


To Hell And Back

by KnightWalker117



Series: From Hell To The Stars [1]
Category: Doom (2005)
Genre: F/M, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27424075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightWalker117/pseuds/KnightWalker117
Summary: You are a medic for RRTS Unit 4, one night while on leave you get a call. You're to be lent out to RRTS Unit 6 for an important mission. A mission that will change everything.
Relationships: John Grimm/Reader
Series: From Hell To The Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075955
Comments: 14
Kudos: 31





	1. Leave is Canceled

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I just wanted to say a quick hello before you get to the first chapter and that this my first fanfiction in many years. I hope I'm not too rusty, so any advice you may have I wouldn't turn it away. I also posted this on my Tumblr hlabounty96

“In the year 2026 archaeologists working in the Nevada desert discovered a portal to an ancient city on Mars. They called this portal the Ark. 20 years later we’re still struggling to understand why it was built and what happened to the civilization that built it. “

A shrill beeping broke the silence of the room. Groaning you swatted at your night side table looking for the object of your extreme annoyance. Which you undoubtedly flung to the floor; hissing you peeled your eyes open and rolled half your body off the bed to look for your damn phone. Picking it up you jabbed the green button and put the device to your ear. 

“H’lo” you cringed slightly at the sound of your own voice. You immediately stiffened at the sound of your commanding officer's voice. “ Yes sir, no sir. I’ll be at the strip in an hour sir.” 

You sat up and hissed at the sudden altitude, sighing you look at the time and flipped your blankets up. Moving around your room in the semi-dark was almost routine by now. The only light was a red blinking open sign from the dive bar below you; it seeped through your blinds like a bad omen. Dressing quickly you scanned the room and grabbed your phone and keys. 

Rushing out the door you passed by the bar owner. You gave him a courteous wave before hopping on your bike. The man grunted at you and examined your ass; as he always does. Sighing and rolling your eyes you revved the engine and were off to base. You were in RRTS unit 4, which is based in Washington State. 

It took very little time to drive up the coast; slowing down to a stop at the heavily guarded gated entrance you balanced your bike and gave a smile to the guard. “Hey Mike,” you said lifting your helmet visor. “Hey (Y/N), I thought you were on leave?” came the voice of a kind rotund man. You gave a sad sigh, “Oh you know; I love my job so much I just couldn’t stay away.” you said with a laugh.

Mike snorted and shook his head; he pulled a retinal scanner from his belt and held it up to your eye. After a moment the little machine whirled and gave a happy beep of approval. The gate to the bridge slid open and you flicked your visor down again. “Tell Mina I said hello! Oh and that I hope she aced that Chem exam!” you called out over your bike’s engine. Mike grinned and gave a slight wave in response. You then sped across the three-mile-long bridge to the man-made island that housed your unit. Parking close to your barracks, you hop off your bike and take the stairs two at a time. Pulling off your helmet, you tug the door open and walk straight into your commanding officer. 

Gunnery Sergeant Edward Cayden call sign Hunter. “Oof, Jesus Hunt. Hi.” you said rubbing your nose. “(Y/N), my girl, right on time! Come on I have a debrief for you.” he said with a lopsided smile. The man turned and you followed him relaxed as can be. “What’s going on Hunt?” you asked closing his office door. Hunter sat down at his desk and plugged in a data chip. 

“Union Aerospace has requested assistance to contain a Level 5 breach at their Olduvai facility.” 

“This is Dr. Carmack, Classified Research, Olduvai, ID 6627. We’ve had a level 5 breach. Implement quarantine procedures immediately. I repeat. This is Dr. Carmack, Classified Research. Olduvai, ID 6627. We’ve had a level 5 breach. Implement quarantine procedures now.” 

“Gunnery Sergeant Mahonin requested a specialist medic. One who has been in the shit and one who can handle their weapon. He requested you by name (Y/N); and I guess it helps you have experience in quarantine situations. And all those fancy medals." Hunter said with a proud smile. You roll your eyes but return the smile. “Careful your face is gonna split in two, old man.” 

Hunted scowled, “I’m not old.” 

You snorted and moved toward the door, “(Y/N)” you looked over your shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Hunter frowned, “Be careful kid. I got a bad feeling about this one.” he said and you give him a grin. “When am I not careful?” 

The man sighs and shakes his head as she leaves his office to grab her gear. Tapping his desk with his knuckle, Hunter calls up Mahonin. “She’s on her way.” 

“Good. We’ll rendezvous in Nevada; thanks again Ed for lending her out.” came a terse reply. “She better come back in the same-” Hunter was cut off by a laugh. “If she is as you described’ there won’t be a problem. Mahonin out.” the line went dead. The feeling in the pit of his stomach became more pronounced.

It took a solid hour for the transport to land at area 51. You checked and double-checked your gear. Medkits, ammo, testing kits, knife, belt knife, boot knife, rifle, handgun. You shifted in your seat, your vest perfectly tight around your ribs. You pressed your thumb into the scanner of your rifle, 

“ RRTS Special Ops clearance Verified. Handle ID: Crow” 

Smirking you glance down at the black tattoo on your wrist. “Pray for war,” you whisper as the transport touched down. Sliding the door open you look over to see another transport dropping down. Grabbing your pack you head toward the facility entrance to wait. Eight men exited the chopper and jogged toward you. You were already getting some looks; moving forward a few steps to meet a rather large man in the center. He held out a hand towards you, “ Sergeant (Y/L/N), good to finally meet you. I’m Gunnery Sergeant Mahonin. Call me Sarge.” you nod and shake the man’s hand. Sarge turned toward his men and waved a hand toward each one “ We’ve got Mac, Goat, Destroyer, Portman, Duke, Reaper, and the Kid.” 

You nod at them all and waited as Sarge continued, “Men this is Crow our borrowed Medic and quarantine expert. She comes from RRTS Unit 4.” 

Portman leered at you and licked his lips. You rolled your eyes and glanced over your shoulder as the elevator began to rise from the sand. “Move in,” Sarge commanded and all nine of you crammed into the elevator. “Hey, Sarge I thought Reaper was our medic? Not that I’m complaining.” Duke asked sending you a charming smile. 

“Just because I have an understanding of first aid, doesn’t make me a medic.” Reaper said lowly. That’s when you suddenly feel fingers dance across your ass, gritting your teeth you expertly grab the hand and twist it so it was at an odd angle. Portman cried out in pain. “Listen, Portman was it? I’m only going to say this once. Touch me again, and I’ll make it look like natural causes. Am I clear?” 

Portman yelped when he didn’t answer as you brought a finger to a pressure point in his wrist. “Am. I. Clear?” you asked again slowly. The elevator was quiet and watching with amusement. “Crystal.” Portman gasped and you let him go. Portman held his hand to his chest and glared at you. Sarge gave you a once over and nodded his approval; he didn't have the time or patience to hold hands. He seemed happy that you could take care of yourself.

“I think I’m in love,” Duke said with a grin, you rolled your eyes and faced front again with a smirk. Destroyer’s laugh boomed in the small space and Reaper’s lip twitched upwards into a ghost of a smile. The elevator slowed and came to a stop, the Ark was dead ahead. Hunter’s bad feeling fluttered in your own stomach now.


	2. The Ark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Just a reminder that Doom and any of the characters do not belong to me. I'm just playing with them. Please enjoy chapter two and please, please, give some tips or tricks when it comes to reader inserts! :)

A man who strongly resembled a weasel walked towards the group. Holding out his hand he said, “ Sandford Crosby, UAC public relations.” Sarge had no desire to shake hands with him so he dropped it without missing a beat. 

“Now follow me, please.” he continued and you tune out the rest; only hearing snippets of the conversation. You looked around with mild interest as you and the others stopped in front of the Ark. The man stopped and cleared his throat, “Welcome to the Ark, gentlemen.” he paused seeing you for the first time. “And lady.” 

You raised an eyebrow as the computer announced, “ Initiating molecular mapping drive. All personnel, prepare for activation.” The weasel gestured for you all to stand back a bit. “ Keep your distance from the core or you might get sucked in,” he said with a nervous chuckle. 

Beside you, the Kid leaned towards Goat looking nervous, “You...You done this before?” he asked lowly. Goat gave a noncommittal shrug, “Once. Training Mission” he said and you turned away from the conversation. You really didn’t want to think about it; Ark travel left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t gonna be fun. You wrinkled your nose at the floating silver mass in front of the room, ‘Ugh this is gonna suck.’ you thought. 

Sarge told the weasel man to shut down the surface elevator for the standard six-hour quarantine. “Target receiver initialized. - Ready to proceed. Ark Travel, 15 seconds.” the computer spoke and Reaper stepped forward. Within seconds the silver mass swallowed him completely. 

“Crow. You’re up.” Sarge said, jerking his head towards the front. Breathing in through your nose, you step forward. The computer counted down and before you knew it; you were gone. It felt like nothing, and everything all once. But sooner than it happened, it was over. You stumbled forward and gritted your teeth against nausea, taking in a sharp breath through your nose you’re faintly aware of someone guiding you to sit down. 

“That’s it. Head between your knees,” they whispered, you look up through your lashes and see Reaper there. All you gave him was a groan in response. “I hate Ark travel.” you mutter. Reaper chuckles humorously, “Yeah it’s not my favorite either.” he murmured back. Squeezing your shoulder one more time before he stood back up and watched as the others came through. You were pleased to see that some of the others fared a bit worse than you. 

Portman couldn’t hold it in. As soon as he stepped through the Ark he threw up; you weren’t sure what was worse. The smell or his complaining, “ Why we gotta come all this way? Why can’t UAC rent-a-cops take care of this bullshit?” 

You rolled your eyes and got up off the floor with a kind hand from Duke. The kid panted and straightened, “ Is it always that rough?” he asked still looking rather pale. 

“Believe me, it used to be a lot rougher. There was a time when Ark travel was susceptible to, let’s say, - major turbulence.” a man in a silver chair said rolling towards them. The poor kid looked confused, “What does he mean?” he asked incredulously. 

“He means he went to one galaxy, his ass went to another,” Reaper said without skipping a beat. You smirked, “And here I thought he was doing a terrible impression of Darth Maul.” you muttered so only the closest to you could hear. Reaper coughed covering a laugh, Duke snorted not bothering in being discrete, and the Kid smiled; he relaxed a little at your words. Good. 

The man in the chair gave Reaper an unimpressed look, “Call it a scientific miscalculation. Unbelievable as it may seem, UAC does make the odd tiny mistake. Marcus Pinzerowsky. You can call me Pinky. Follow me.” 

You all move away from the Ark after Pinky. Sarge asked where the personnel who weren’t locked down in the labs were. Without looking up from a computer console Pinky responded, “ In the atrium.” 

Sarge nodded, “Pinky, put us up.” Punky hit a few controls and glanced up, “ Activating remote personal surveillance.” he said. “Circle out men, on my three,” Sarge ordered. 

You got into the circle and turned your body slightly to the left, 

“One.” 

“Two.” 

“Three.” 

With a snap and click, you pointed your weapon at the person across from you which just so happened to be Reaper. He had his weapon pointed right back at you; and without really thinking you crossed your eyes and stuck out the tip of your tongue. And you really had to give it to the guy, he tried his damnedest to keep a poker face. You knew he was amused though by the subtle huff and the twitch of his lip. Sarge looked at you with only mild exasperation and shook his head. You merely gave him a thousand-watt smile as he gave orders. “ People, this room is a code red, which means no one gets in without our permission. It stays ours at all costs. Mac, stay here with our friend and secure the door. Men, on me. Let’s move out. Open the door.” 

People whispered around them, the atrium was abuzz with activity. A man approached Sarge, concern etched on his face. “When can I start evacuating people out through the Ark?” he asked Immediately. “We’re at a level 5 quarantine, nobody goes anywhere,” Sarge said ending the discussion right then and there. 

You watched out of the corner of your eye as Portman sauntered up to a group of women trying to convince them that it was quarantine protocol to do a strip search. Duke shifted next to you and snorted, shook his head. “On behalf of all men. I’m sorry,” he whispered. You smirked and tilted your head up to reply but his gaze was fixed on something else. Or someone else. 

A woman about your age walked with a purpose up to your group, right past Portman ignoring him. Her blonde ponytail swung back and forth until she made it to a stop beside the head of security. “ Sergeant, this is Dr. Samantha Grimm, UAC science officer assigned to retrieve data from the lab.” 

“Sergeant.” Dr. Grimm politely greeted, and her eyes slid over to Reaper. “Hello, John.” 

“Hello, Samantha,” Reaper muttered back clearly uncomfortable. ‘Oh He’s not happy’ you thought dryly. “Hello Samantha!” a voice said excitedly next to you; rolling your eyes you elbow Duke in the ribs making him hiss. 

“Sarge, this operation is a code red. We really don’t have room for passengers.” Reaper said cooly. Dr. Grimm bristled, “ Excuse me, but I have orders to retrieve data from three servers: Anthropology, Forensic Archeology, and Genetics.” 

“This is a military operation Doctor. We’re really not here to retrieve your science homework.” Reaper ground out. ‘Oh boy.’ you thought with a slight wince. 

“Look, I got an idea. Why don’t you ask your CO what your orders are?” Dr. Grimm asked almost too sweetly. “This is better than daytime TV,” you muttered under your breath. Duke snorts and shifts a little when Goat glares at him. 

Sarge sighed, “ To contain and neutralize the threat, protect the civilians, and retrieve UAC property.” he said monotonously. Dr. Grimm looked completely satisfied, while Reaper looked utterly peeved. ‘Yeah, bet they’re siblings.’ you thought finally. Dr. Grimm walked away, leading them onward. 

“Is this going to spoil my day? Sarge asked eyeing Reaper. The man in question scowled, “No, sir.” 

Duke let out a low whistle, “ Tell me you didn’t let a fine-looking piece of ass like that get away from you, Reaper.” 

Reaper looked grossed out for a split second before saying, “She’s my sister.” 

“No shit!” Duke exclaimed happily. ‘Fucking called it.’ you thought smugly. ‘Only family can piss you off like that.’ 

As we walked toward the pressure door Dr. Grimm explained the layout of the labs. “There’s three sections to Carmack’s lab complex. Archeology, Genetics, and Weapons Research.” 

“You test weapons up here,” Duke asked surprised. You wanted to retort with a smartass remark but Dr. Grimm beat you to the punch. “ Well, it’s a dead planet. You want that tested here, where it’s safe, or in your own backyard?” 

“Been there, done that, got the radiation poisoning.” you automatically chirped earning a few chuckles. Dr. Grimm smiled at you and continued. “ We’re primarily an archeological operation. Weapons Research is in its own separate facility. It had nothing to do with Dr. Carmack’s work.” 

Somehow that didn’t make you feel any better. Something was wrong here and you could feel it in the pit of your stomach. “How many inside when the lab shut down?” Sarge asked looking down at the good Doctor. “Only Dr. Carmack’s team. That’s six people. In one of the carbon dating labs, there was an internal phone left off the hook.” she said warily. 

“Did you get any information from it?” Sarge asked. Dr. Grimm looked at the head of security who then held up a small device. What you heard sent a deep chill down your spine and into your very core. Even after the recording was turned off you could still hear the screams echo around in your head. 

“Open the door.”


	3. Lucy In The Sky...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay chapter 3! Thank you to my friend thottiewithashotgun (Tumblr) for editing for me. Please enjoy! Kudos and comments are love!

“Open the door.” 

At Sarge’s order, Portman and Goat moved through the large doorway. They were quiet for a moment before giving the all-clear. “Pinky, give us a schematic,” Sarge ordered into his comm. 

“Uploading to you now,” Pinky said and a map popped up onto a screen on the wall beside you. “Carmack’s lab is isolated from the rest of the facility. The airlock is the only way in or out.” 

“Goat, Portman: Genetics. Kid, Destroyer: Carmack’s office, where he sent the mayday from. Reaper, Crow, keep Dr. Grimm here safe on her salvage op. Duke and I’ll take the weapons lab, make sure all the hardware’s secure.” Sarge barked and nodded his head toward the door. “Portman, Goat, on you.” 

Portman cleared the left, while Goat cleared the right. Portman snorted as we all passed the doorway and it shut with a hiss behind us. “Five bucks says this shit ain’t nothing but a disgruntled employee with a gun,” he said with a short laugh. You rolled your eyes but kept your mouth shut. “Fluorescent markings as rooms are cleared. Go.” Sarge ordered glaring at Portman’s back. 

Reaper took point and you took the rear, with Dr. Grimm in the middle. Your eyes darted around, looking at everything. The hall was dark, the power was obviously on auxiliary. The lights that weren’t broken already, flickered causing a creepy ambiance. Coming up to a door, Reaper nodded to you and you moved forward, keeping Dr. Grimm outside as Reaper cleared the room. “All clear,” he called out. 

You and the good Doctor entered the room and she went straight for a computer terminal. “How much time you gonna need?” Reaper asked his eyes on her. She looked up, “Thirty minutes, tops,” she said looking back down at her work. You wandered the room looking at all of its contents. It looked like anything you’d find in the back of a museum. A couple of books lay open on a table and you read them with interest. 

Reaper glanced over at you as you read through the book that sat on the table in front of you. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” you said dryly without looking up. Reaper sighed and shifted looking away. You looked up at this and cocked your head to the side, “Reaper, say what’s on your mind before you brood harder.” you said, leaning against the tabletop. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Dr. Grimm smirk. Reaper gave you a half-hearted glare, “Sarge said you were a quarantine expert.” he said, turning to face you fully.   
You nodded, a frown coloring your features. “My unit had been on point with a few quarantines. Me being the medic, my job was to help clear infected areas. Clear and examine the remains. One of the reasons they call me Crow. Crows tend to circle when death is near.” you said with a shrug, looking away from Reaper toward the books again. The silence was tense before Reaper broke it. 

“You had to separate families, put them down when needed,” he said and you flinched at his words. “John!” Dr. Grimm scolded. You gave a sad smile and shook your head “No, it’s okay. He’s right; when we cleared houses sometimes they contained people infected who were still alive but too far gone to save. I would make them comfortable and sit with them until they’ve passed.” you said giving Reaper a small smile. 

Reaper sighed, “It was the kindest thing you could do for them.” he said shifting looking uncomfortable. “ So ‘Reaper’? As in ‘Grimm’?” Dr. Grimm asked mildly amused. Reaper rolled his eyes, “ They’re Marines, Sam, not poets.” he drawled. You snorted and wandered over to some skeletal remains. It appeared to be female; she was stuck shielding her child; pain etched on her face. You furrowed your brow at the site; ‘what was she protecting her child from?’ 

“Holy shit!” Reaper called out from behind you. You glanced over your shoulder to see Reaper looking at the remains surprised. “Oh yeah, meet Lucy. Lucy, this is my brother, John, another creature from the long lost past.” 

You chuckled, “You found human remains?” Reaper asked incredulously. “Humanoid.” both you and Dr. Grimm corrected. “I bet that was a happy surprise, Dr. Grimm,” you say with a smile. “Sam, please.” 

You nodded and she continued almost excitedly, “ Lucy and her child were our first major find. We’re bringing out more every day.”

“You re-opened the dig?” Reaper asked, sounding pissed. ‘Well there’s something going on here that I don’t know about.’ you thought and watched the two siblings argue like it was a tennis match. 

“I know I should have told you. I didn’t figure it was the sort of thing I could jot down on a yearly birthday card. It’s been stabilized.” Sam said.

“Bullshit.” 

Sam stood up looking as angry as her brother now, “You wanna talk about safe? Like you took a desk job? I’m a forensic archeologist, John. I’ll go where the work is.” she said evenly.

‘Point, set, match. Sam one, Reaper zero.’ you thought more amused at the argument than you should be.

“Is that the reason you’re up here?” Reaper asked coldly. “You wanna know why I’m up here? I’ll show you. Come here.” Sam said, walking back over to the terminal. She plugged a hard drive in and tapped at the keys. Reaper walked over and you with him; the curiosity was just too much sometimes. 

“This is Lucy’s chromosome profile. Notice anything?” Sam asked smugly. You gasped and leaned in closer. “No fucking way,” you mutter astounded at what was on the screen. “My molecular genetics is a little rusty,” Reaper said dryly. “What’s the first thing Dad taught us to look for?” Sam asked patiently. Reaper squinted at the screen and frowned; you couldn’t help but smile. ‘He got it.’ you thought impressed. 

“She’s got 24 pairs of chromosomes. Humans only have 23. - But what does the extra pair do?” he asked almost awed. Sam shrugged, “Makes her superhuman. The extra pair makes her super strong, super fit, super intelligent. Her cells divide 50 times faster, meaning she heals almost instantly. The fossil record indicates these people had conquered disease. We found no genetic disorders, no viruses, no cancers.” 

“So what, they were just naturally superior?” Reaper asked, crossing his arms. Sam shook her head, “No. Not naturally. See, the earliest remains we found only had 23. We suspect this extra chromosome may be synthetic.” she said you sigh frowning. ‘Well the remains make sense now, sort of.’ you thought with a wince. 

“Bioengineered?” Reaper asked disapprovingly. Sam looked amused now, “That’s a long word for a Marine.” she said with a smirk. Reaper scoffed and turned away looking at Lucy again. Sam bit her lip, “ Does it ever bother you, you could’ve spent your life looking in a microscope instead of a sniper scope?” 

Reaper ignored the question with one of his own, “ If they were so smart, how come they’re so dead?” Sam shrugged again, “ We don’t know. Maybe they just went with time.” she said a bit sadly. Reaper looked at his sister shaking his head, “You don't shield a baby from time.” he said, pointing out what she wanted to ignore. 

“Crow, what do you think?” Sam asked genuinely wanting your opinion. You winced slightly at the name, “Call me (Y/N). I uh, have to agree with Reaper on this one.” you said, walking closer to them. You bent over a little to get a closer look at the set of remains. “ I don’t care where you’re from or if you think it could cure everything. Becoming something better before you’re ready can cause a lot of problems. Creating a super serum; it’s never had the best track record. And by the look on Lucy’s face...well I guess they paid the price for it. I just hope we won’t have to make the same mistakes.” you whispered and glanced up at the two siblings. Sam thinned her lips and furrowed her brow. Reaper was about to add something else when your comms. blew up with noise. Gunfire and the words “Contact!” You and Reaper looked at each other for just a moment before sprinting towards the door. “ Moving east through Carmack’s office! Fast!” Sarge’s voice boomed through your earpiece. “Confirmed contact. Moving fast, over south corridor.” 

You and Reaper skidded to a halt, aiming your weapons at a lone figure standing in the corner. The man growled at you all, clutching onto a severed arm; you locked eyes with Sarge for a second silently asking to move in and check on him. He hesitated for the briefest of moments before nodding his approval. You swung your rifle onto your back and slowly moved forward, your hands up. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” you whispered sweetly. The deranged man growled but not as forcefully. 

You edged even closer, making sure your hands are in his sight at all times. He dropped the arm and crouched, pulling his arms against his chest. “Lemme just take a quick look at you. It’s okay.” you soothed. Someone behind you cocked their gun and the mad Doctor hissed. You froze for a moment and continued when his eyes locked back onto you. The sound of rushing footsteps didn’t stop you from crouching in front of the man. You look him over and began to catalog his injuries. 

“Sam, I told you to stay-” Reaper hissed quietly. “But he knows me, John. Dr. Carmack, it’s me. Samantha. That person next to you is (Y/N). Where are the others? Where are they? Steve, Hillary. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Sam said inching closer. You held up a hand to stop Sam and she slowed, but it was too late. Too many people were crowding around him. Dr. Carmack flung his hand to his ear; with a twist and a strong pull it came off. He threw it to the floor and Sam gave a startled scream of “Jesus Christ!”

“Fuck.” you muttered and quickly pulled out a packet of gauze from the bag on your left thigh. You tore it open and gently pressed it onto Carmack’s left ear. The man looked at you but didn’t protest; you gave him a sweet smile and slowly stood up with him in tow. 

Portman laughed saying, “Nice!” and the Kid looked grossed out, ready to blow chunks then and there. The rest of the unit only looked mildly disturbed. You sighed not batting an eye, “Now, who wants to be a gentleman and help me get him to the infirmary?” 

Duke immediately held up a hand. “Lady’s got a pair.” Destroyer said impressed. “Oh sweetie, you’ve seen nothing yet.” you teased, gently easing your head out of Cormack’s reach.

He seemed to like your hair.


	4. For Whom The Bell Tolls...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took forever! So I made it extra long! Thanks again to thottiewithashotgun (Tumblr) for editing, I love you bunches! Enjoy my loves! <3

You and Duke gently, yet forcefully dragged Dr. Carmack through the halls and then the atrium. There were gasps and shouts of surprise. “Keep everyone back!” you ordered the head of security. He nodded vigorously and urged people back as you, Duke, and Sam pushed through the increasing gap in the crowd. Moving down another corridor, you came to a stop in front of a large grey doorway. ‘Nanowall.’ you thought with resignation.

“No, no, I don’t do nanowalls,” Duke said shaking his head in protest. You smirk, and Sam quickly moved over to the wall controls. “Yes, you do,” Sam said, hitting a red button turning it green. “Do you want me to clear it?” you asked teasingly. Duke snapped his head to you and shook his head “Nah, Nah. You ladies stay out here with Dr. Fruitcake. I’ll clear it.” he said and Sam took over for him on Carmack’s other side. Duke raised his weapon and quickly moved through the wall to clear the other side. An Asian woman ran up to your group from the atrium. 

“Did they find the others?” she asked, not bothering with a greeting. She looked at both you and Sam, hope in her eyes. You frowned, guilt coating you from the inside out. You shook your head, “Not yet.” you whispered to her. The woman deflated slightly, “My husband is with them.” she said and Duke motioned for you all to move. 

“I’m sure Steve is fine,” Sam soothed as she helped you lift Carmack onto an exam bed. You grabbed a blood pressure cuff from a nearby cart and showed it to him. “Dr. Carmack, I’m going to take your blood pressure,” you said in a calming tone. Carmack growled, “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” you whispered and gently attached the cuff to his arm. “See? Easy,” you breathed out. Pressing a button, you watched as it filled with air. Carmack watched you intently as you examined and cleaned his wounds. ‘Okay, now you’re getting creepy.’ you thought and moved a step back as he began to sniff at your hair again. 

Then out of the blue Carmack started panting “I can feel it.” he whispered, panicked. You placed a newly gloved hand on his head trying to calm him down. “What happened down there?” Sam asked from the other side of the bed. Carmack started to shake, “ Shut it down. Shut it down. Shut it down.” he chanted, shaking his head back and forth. He then suddenly clutched your arm way too tight. Duke surged forward but stopped when you held up your other hand. Carmack’s breathing became more erratic, he locked his eyes with yours, “It’s inside.” 

“Oh that’s not ominous,” you muttered and gently pried his hand from your arm. You gestured for the syringe on the tray next to the lab tech; she grabbed it and quickly handed it to you. “Alright Doctor, I’m just gonna take a little bit of your blood,” you said in an even tone, a small smile on your face. The man grunted and did nothing as you rolled up his sleeve and looked for a vein. Upon finding one you uncapped the syringe with your teeth and stuck the needle into his arm. You furrowed your brows, the blood filling the syringe looked like it was red curdled milk. “That’s not right,” you whisper. 

“Oh, my god. There’s something in his blood. What’s happening to him?” the lab tech asked eyes wide. Shaking your head you held the syringe up to the light; then there was a commotion over the Comms. You looked up at Duke but his head was bent down, with a hand to his ear. Turning up the volume you listened, “Reaper, what have you got?” Sarge barked, 

“We’re chasing something,” Reaper responded, sounding out of breath. “What do you mean, ‘something’?” Sarge asked, his frustration growing. “Something big, not human.” came Reaper’s reply. Sarge lost his patience, “God damn it! Give me confirmation on what you see!” 

“It’s in the sewer. All units, all units. Southeast corridor near the med lab.” Reaper said urgently. “Crow, you too. We might need you down there.” Sarge ordered; “Yes sir.” you spoke into your comm. then turned to Sam holding up the needle, “You mind running some tests?” you asked. Sam nodded, taking the syringe from you, “(Y/N), be careful.” she said sincerely. “I’m always careful Sam.” you said with a smile; shucking off your gloves you gave Duke a look, “I got her.” he said. You pulled your rifle from your back and stalked out of the infirmary toward the southeast corridor. 

You came to a stop just as Portman began to descend the ladder; Sarge nodded to you in greeting. “How is Dr. Carmack?” he asked and you frowned and sighed, “Weird. I pulled some blood and I asked Dr. Grimm to run a few tests for me.” Sarge gave you a look, “He’ll live.” you amended and he nodded and gestured for you to climb down. 

You slid down the ladder quickly before hanging in the air. Glancing down you saw the murky water below, you let go of the rung you were holding onto and landed with a small splash. “It’s a shame a fine ass like that has to be in fatigues,” Portman said, leering eyes never leaving your behind. “Portman.” Reaper barked and the slime ball held up his hands in mock surrender. Rolling your eyes, you moved out of the way of Sarge. “I can handle him,” you whispered to Reaper. 

He sighed and looked away from you not saying a word. Huffing you followed after Sarge and Destroyer down the nasty sewer tunnel. “Tunnel ahead is the main junction. It leads back to the lab complex,” Pinky said over the comms a few moments later. “Destroyer, cover the exit.” Sarge ordered; the big man nodded and moved back behind the group. You walked in silence for a few minutes before Sarge picked up a floating lab coat, “We got a Dr. Willits. Move out.” he said before he dropped the ripped cloth back into the water. 

“Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Goat said and smiled kindly at you like he was keying you in on a joke. “That’s real comforting, Goat. That ain’t freaking me out at all.” Portman complained, truly looking disturbed. ‘Ah.’ you thought smirking now. You stopped suddenly, a prickle danced across your skin. You looked into the dark with narrowed eyes, “Crow, you okay?” Goat asked, placing a hand on your shoulder. Frowning, you nodded.

“Yeah, thought I heard something.” you muttered. Before you could continue on, Portman yelped and disappeared into the murky water. “Portman!” Goat shouted and dove for the man. Sarge whipped around, “What the fuck?” 

In the commotion, you and Reaper both dove and grabbed part of Portman’s vest. “Goddamn son of a bitch is heavy!” Reaper grunted. You craned your neck to keep your head from slipping under. “Quick, he’s slipping back. He’s slipping.” Reaper hissed in frustration. Finally, the thee of you pulled Portman up from the drink; you stumbled back and Destroyer caught and steadied you. “Thanks,” you whispered. Destroyer patted you on the head affectionately before turning his head back to the rear. Shaking your head you shook off the extra water. “Portman, what the hell happened?” Sarge shouted. Portman spat out water and put his finger in his ear, “I fell in the damn hole.” he said annoyed. 

You, Goat, and Reaper glared hard at Portman, who ignored you in turn. Sarge looked pissed, “Everybody, on me. Watch your goddamn footing. Move.” you made a choking motion at Portman with your hands before shoving past him. After another five minutes, you came to a stop at a crossroads. Sarge turned around, “Goat, Crow, straight ahead. Portman you’re with me. John, take the Kid and go to the right.” he said before leaving with Portman. Goat walked up to you and flicked on his flashlight; “Ladies first.” he said with a gesture. Nodding you flicked on your own gun light before continuing on. 

There was a comfortable silence between you and Goat until he decided to break it “What made you want to be a Marine? If you don’t mind me asking.”

You thought for a moment and sighed. “I could tell you it’s because I wanted to help people and serve my country, but I would be lying. I did it all out of spite. My mother wanted me to be something else; like a lawyer or violinist. My god those violin lessons. She made me stop when I began to add remixes.” you laughed and Goat smirked. He looked at you and nodded, “I can see that. You being the rebellious type.” he chuckled. You grinned, “I mean I was pretty good and I liked it for a while. But it started to become a chore after she pushed and pushed. I was never good enough, I always had to be better. So I secretly started to talk to a recruiter, and after I graduated I was gone.” you said with a shrug. Goat looked over at you, “Have you talked to her?” he asked with no judgment in his tone. “Sort of. If you think shouting matches over the phone as ‘talking’.“ you snort and pause for a moment. “Wow, you’re like a confessional,” you mutter, and Goat burst out laughing. 

You let out a chuckle and Goat nudged your shoulder with his arm, “For what it’s worth kiddo, you’re one kind-hearted soul who won’t put up with shit. Just uh take care of yourself; maybe give that violin a shot again someday. Go to school for something amazing, don’t end up like me. Full of regret and in pain every time it rains.” he said with a wry smile and you looked at him surprised. “Thanks, Goat. I’ll keep it in mind, I promise,” you whispered with a sad smile. At that moment Goat’s light began to flicker, he smacked at it with an unhappy grunt. 

You frowned and looked down at your own light, sighing relieved you saw that yours was still working perfectly. Goat unhooked his flashlight and shook it until droplets of water came out. “Great,” he muttered frustrated, “You uh guys didn’t get the waterproof ones?” you asked with a cheeky smile. Goat looked at you with a raised eyebrow; you unhooked your own light and held it out for him. “Take mine, I think you might need it more.” 

Before Goat could respond Reaper’s voice came over the Comm. “Crow, Goat, I think there’s something coming up on you.” Goat huffed and spoke into his own Comm. “My light is down. I’m sharing with Crow,” he said and looked over at you. He took your light and promptly hooked it back onto your rifle. You gave him a look and heard Reaper again. “Don’t move. I’m on my way.” 

“Men; Pinky. Can you see anything?” you asked tensed up ready for a fight. There was a pause, “No. Nothing.” Pinky said and the distinct sound of growling made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Beside you, Goat tensed and turned so you were back to back “Dr. Willits?” he called out into the dark. The growling became louder and then suddenly Goat was screaming; you whipped around and gasped. Taking aim you fire into the monster's back, but not before it bit into Goat’s neck. After you fired the monster howled and tossed Goat aside, turning to you. Gritting your teeth, you fired rapidly but it came at you too quickly. With the strength of an oncoming truck, the monster batted you aside into the sewer wall with a crack. 

You screamed out in pain and fell into the water; you faintly heard the monster above you roar. It stepped on your chest, you clamped your mouth shut trying your hardest not to scream. Pulling out your sidearm you lifted your arm out of the water and fired into what you hoped was the creature’s chest. It howled in pain again and then reached down and grabbed you by the throat lifting you out of the water into the air. You tried to gasp for air but none would go to your lungs. Faintly you could hear Sarge yelling at both you and Goat over the Comm. He wanted you to report your location. ‘Would if I could,’ you thought numbly. The creature sniffed the air and brought you closer as if you were buried tressure it had just found. 

Gagging, your hand slowly moved to your hip grabbing the hilt of your knife. “Crow!” someone shouted in the distance. You ignored it and pulled the knife from its sheath and with what strength you had left; jammed it right into the monster’s ear into its brain. It made a gurgling sound and dropped you back into the water. “Man down. Man down!” Reaper shouted into his comm. 

He ran over to you but you waved him off toward Goat. The Kid took his place and helped you lean up against the concrete wall. “Hey are-are you okay?” he stammered. Coughing hard you nod your head and tried to stumble toward Goat. The kid’s eyes widen, “I don’t think that’s a good idea!” he said just as the others surged onto the scene. Sarge’s eyes were wild and angry; his eyes left Goat and Reaper and flitted over to you. “Report!” he barked. You stood up straighter, ignoring the room’s sudden desire to tilt completely. “Goat and I were back to back when it grabbed him. I fired, but the thing just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Threw me against that wall and pinned me under the water. I managed to pull my sidearm and fired five shots into its center mass. I guess it didn’t like that cause it then grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air like I weighed five pounds.” you croaked and winced at the extreme use of your voice. 

“This your knife?” Destroyer asked lifting up the body; he was working on shoving it into a black body bag. “Yeah. I’m not into the whole choking thing so…” you trailed off and moved with Reaper as he and Portman began to pass you. “Crow. (Y/N) are you good?” Sarge asked thin-lipped. Stopping you look over your shoulder at him, “Yeah. I just need to get out of this sewer.” you said and quickly moved after your patient. Sarge didn’t miss how your eyes were unfocused, or how you held your arm close to your chest. The blood flowing from your temple and shoulder were also pretty noticeable. But he looked away. If you said you were good, then you were good. 

You all must have been a sight because the people gathered in the atrium were becoming restless. With a burst of energy, you moved in front of the group leading the way to the infirmary. Distantly you could hear Sarge order for the evac of personnel through the Ark. You surged through the nanowall and go straight to the supply cabinets on the far wall. Sam moved to ask you what happened but Reaper and Portman flew through the nanowall towards the nearest bed. 

“What happened?” Duke asked, eyes wide. “He was talking about devils,” Portman grunted as he and Reaper lifted Goat onto the exam bed. Sam looked perplexed “Devils?” she asked. Portman rolled his eyes, “All his Bible shit. Angels. Good and evil. Devils among us.” he said with a huff. You piled all your supplies onto a tray before rolling it over to the bed. “Let’s get this vest off him,” Reaper said, helping you as you were obviously down an arm. The vest cleared away you motioned for the Kid to come closer. “Keep pressure on his wound,” you ordered and he did as he was told silently with shaking hands. “Got a weak pulse. Portman keep an eye on it for me,” you said, a deep frown etched on your face. Portman placed a couple of fingers on Goat’s neck and kept out of your way. Grimacing you pulled on a pair of gloves with a pained hiss. 

“Get a line in.” You ordered Reaper who complied without complaint. You lifted Goats shirt checking for any other potentially life-threatening wounds. Ripping open a packet of gauze with your teeth you placed it on the long deep scratches that covered his abdomen. “How’s his pulse?” you asked and Portman shook his head, “ I’m losing him,” he said. You nodded at Reaper and he quickly traded places with you. You gently moved the Kid’s hands and bent closer to the wound on Goat’s neck. Frowning, you noticed that his blood started to look a lot like Dr. Carmack’s. Pulling out more gauze you packed the wound again and motioned for the kid to place his hands back.

You looked up to the monitor and hissed in frustration. Glancing at Reaper you saw that he was busy sewing up the lacerations on Goat’s stomach. “Sam, give me a shot of adrenaline,” you said without looking away from the heart monitor. It flatlined, “We lost the pulse.” Duke said anxiously. “Okay let’s defib!” you said placing the electrodes on Goat’s chest. “Clear!” 

I faintly heard Sarge shouting about Dr. Carmack in the background. The heart monitor beeped but it was gone again a second later. “Damn it! Clear!” you called out again before activating the machine one more time. Nothing. “We’re losing him. Sam, I need that adrenaline!” you shouted as the monitor continued to flatline. “Come on Goat. Clear!” you shouted and Sam came running up with the syringe of adrenaline. Taking it you plugged the syringe into the line that Reaper placed. Pushing the plunger you watched the monitor closely. Nothing; he was gone. Taking a deep breath you looked down and then up at his team. You turned on your heels and shucked your gloves in one swift motion. Wincing you ignored everything around you, the pain, the progressing shouting match between Sarge and Sam, and the sudden guilt of losing Goat. 

Unzipping your vest you dump it on an empty table before pulling up a stool. Sitting down you peer into the most reflective surface available; the laceration on your head only looked worse than it really was. Sighing you grabbed some cotton swabs, a bowl of water, and a suture kit. Setting down your haul you dab the first swab into the water and gently clean the drying blood around the cut. The shouting behind you got increasingly louder making your head pound in your ears. Tilting your head just slightly you started to suture the skin back together; that’s when things became quiet again. The sound of footsteps behind you made you pause; glancing into the reflective surface of the tray you were using as a mirror. Reaper walked up to the table you sat at giving you a once over. 

“I know I’m not supposed to tell a woman this but, you look like shit,” he said putting his gun down next to your vest. You snort, “Yeah I smell like it too. I think I have a dislocated shoulder, can you help me pop it back in?” you asked looking up at him and he gave you a look that simply read, “Wow.” 

“Yeah and I can even sew up that cut on your shoulder,” he said pointing. You whipped your head around too fast and gasped in pain. You closed your eyes to stop you from blacking out completely. Reaper placed a hand on your shoulder steadying you.

“Easy, deep breaths.“ he whispered. After a long moment, you opened your eyes only to meet Reaper’s green ones. “I’m okay,” you breathed; standing up you held up your injured arm. Pursing his lips, Reaper gently moved you so you were up against the table, “Up you get,” he said gently. Sighing you maneuvered with help, up onto the table. Reaper moved so he had a decent angle to pop your arm back in. “Ready?” he asked, looking at you and as soon as you nodded he snapped it back in. Yelping, hissed out a stream of curses that made Portman’s eyes widen across the room.

Reaper couldn’t help but chuckle, you glared at him half-heartedly. “Ow.” was all you said while he smirked at you. “I’m gonna need all kinds of shots when this is over. Sewer water isn’t great on open wounds,” you muttered as Reaper helped lift your shirt over your head. “Ah Crow, why does Reaper get to undress you?” Portman called from the other side of the room. Scowling you opened your mouth to shout at the man child but Reaper beat you to it. “Shut the fuck up Portman, no one will miss you if I decide to shoot you.” 

You give the man in front of you a look that clearly said, “Really?” the man in question grimaced. “Sorry,” he muttered. Sighing you slowly turned around on the table so you were sitting criss-cross on top of it. “It’s pretty deep, it’s going to need stitches,” Reaper murmured lowly and started cleaning it. “You know you did everything you could right?” he asked after a brief silence. You tensed up at his words.

“I’m the medic, I should have been able to do something,” you whispered back. Reaper sighed, “Things around here aren’t normal. I’m sure you caught on to that by now.” he said and you felt the numbing spray on your shoulder. “Reaper I couldn’t save him as a medic, and I couldn’t save him as a Marine either. I took too long trying to take...that demon down. Heh demon, how accurate.” you muttered bitterly mind wandering. The sharp jab of a finger into the small of your back made you hiss. Turning slightly you glared at the offender, “I’m not gonna sugar coat it because that would be an insult to you. That being said, I think you were given a shitty hand and made the best with what you had. Goat wouldn’t blame you for any of it, and I think he would be pissed to know you took all the blame. You gotta get over yourself.” he said firmly as he sutured your shoulder. “And please call me John,” he murmured. You chuckled dryly, “You’re right. I can be a bitter bitch later, thanks John,” 

You heard a snip and felt him place a bandage gently over the stitches. “It’s no problem, Crow. I’ll be happy to call you out on your shit,” he said with a smirk, and you couldn’t help but laugh. “I look forward to it. And John, call me (Y/N), I freaking hate my call sign,” you said turning back around to face him. He handed you your overshirt and cleared his throat nervously. You pulled your shirt back over your head and grabbed your vest just as Sarge walked over to you. “All set?” He asked more gently than you thought possible. “I’m all good. No longer bleeding,” you said with a small smile. 

Sarge nodded and watched you walk away towards Sam and Duke, “How is she really?” he asked Reaper. John looked at his C.O. and sighed, “ Bad concussion, cracked maybe some broke ribs. I fixed her dislocated shoulder but it’s obvious she’s in pain. She’s tough though.” he said truthfully. Sarge gave him a knowing look that Reaper glared at, “Shut up, sir.” 

Sarge held up his hands and smirked, “I said nothing.”


	5. Oh Hell No...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Finally finished chapter 5! I have to admit I struggled with this one a bit. I also wanted to say sorry for all the typos! Sometimes they get missed. Thank you for all the Kudos and comments! 
> 
> Krystal: thank you so much and here you go! 
> 
> Wildfire62: Thank you so much you don't know how much it means to me! I'm super happy you like it!
> 
> SeleneMoon21: I'm glad you like it! This was unexpected for me too. This is my very first reader insert and it's my first fanfiction in about ten years.

You walked over to where Sam and Duke were whispering quietly, at the sound of your footsteps Duke looked up and gave you a toothy smile. “There she is. You all good?” he asked and you grimaced. “I’ll live. I’m gonna need to burn all of my gear though.” you grumbled.

Sam laughed softly and looked at you with a critical eye, “You said you were going to be careful.” she accused. You sighed and blew a strand of hair from your face, “I guess it’s not my lucky day.” you offered with a shrug.

Sam snorted and shook her head, “I feel like that happens often.” she whispered, making Duke snort. You glared at her without any of the heat and pulled your vest back on slowly. Wincing slightly as your shoulder and ribs twinged, Sam pulled the vest around you and helped zip it up. 

“Thanks,” you muttered and turned when Sarge stalked over, “Where are your surface entry points?” he asked voice tight. Sam hesitated for a second, “There’s a pressure door at the end of the north corridor” she said voice steady. Sarge nodded, “Destroyer, Kid, Portman, get there on the double. Give me an update.” he ordered to the three, who all nodded. “Whatever this thing is it cannot get back through the Ark,” 

Sarge then spoke directly into his Comm. “Mac, I want you to arm Pinky with a weapon, with some ST grenades, and seal the Ark door.” Sam perked up beside you, “There’s another door.” she said wide eyed. Sarge looked at her again, “Where?” he asked and Sam shifted and glanced at John for the briefest moment. “The entrance to the archeological dig.” she said with a sigh. You moved over to the open body bag and knelt down; you examined the creature with careful eyes. ‘What are you?’ you mentally ask. Reaching down you grip your knife’s hilt and give a sharp tug to free it from the demons skull. You lifted the blade and looked at it carefully in the light, a mixture of light and dark blood cover it. “Just like the other’s” you murmur. Sarge squats down next to you, “What do you think?” he asked quietly. Pursing your lips you think about what you have seen so far, “I can only make an educated guess. But I think it might be in the blood.” you said with a shrug, “I’m not an expert.” you added as Sarge opened his mouth to push you for more. He gave you a look that said a lot, 'elaborate,' was one of them.

“I think an autopsy would reveal a few things.” you offered your C.O. who in turn huffed impatiently. You both stood up, “I heard there was a body in Genetics; permission to get a blood sample?” you asked, hopeful. Sarge looked down at you, eyes narrowed. He looked at you for a long moment before nodding. “Granted, don’t take too long. In and out and back here on the double.” he said. “Yes sir,” you said and sheathed your knife.

You moved around the room gathering the supplies you needed and stopped to reload both your main weapon and your sidearm. “Sam, can you start on an autopsy while I’m gone?” you asked your new friend. Sam had a few different expressions flit across her face before she stuck with determination. She nodded and looked at the body bag as if it was going to come alive at any moment. You moved with others through the nanowall with a small wave to the two left behind.

You breathed in through your nose and steadily out your mouth; up toward the front of the line Sarge was losing his patience with Portman; again. You moved into the hallway that lead to the labs and the door sealed with a hiss behind you. Reaper quietly walked next to you and looked like he wanted to say something. He seemed to stop himself everytime he tried. “Something on your mind John?” you asked with a raised eyebrow. John hummed and looked down at you, “You sure you want to go off alone?” he asked and you rolled your eyes. “I’ll be fine. Nothing I can’t handle.” you reassured your voice betraying your annoyance. 

John chuckled, “I know you can handle it. If the dead demon in the infirmary was any indication. I just...be careful, okay?” he said carefully. You smirk and nudged him with your working arm, “Daaaaw, does this mean we're friends now?” you asked teasingly. John grumbled refusing to look at you out of spite. “I’ll be fine. In and out, like Sarge ordered.” you said stopping at the hall where you split up. 

Reaper looked at you for a second longer before nodding and heading off with the others. Taking a deep breath you turned back to the dark dimly lit corridor you had to traverse down. “I have the survival instinct of a lemming.” you muttered to yourself as you moved forward. The only sound was your light footsteps on the grated floor and your heart pounding in your ears. Tense with your rifle partially raised you look at each door hoping to happen upon genetics some point soon. As alert as you were your mind still drifted, ‘John was being weird. I mean I just met the guy; well his sister was worried about me too. Maybe it’s a Grimm thing. They have bad blood with this place. Sam's sweet, I'd hang out with her outside of all this if I got the chance. I should talk to her about that. John...I dunno. I don't think he'd ever talk to me outside of work.’ you thought and stopped short. Turning your head you read the plaque by the door. 

Genetics 

“Finally.” you breathed and moved to enter the room. You tapped at the door controls, and the door swooshed open. You looked into the dark room with mild apprehension, “Okay, ominous darkness; Check. Dead animal’s everywhere; Check. Giant spiderweds; Che-” you cut yourself off and take another look around the room. You aimed your rifle up and down the walls so you can see with your flashlight. Very large white webbs coated the room, “Oh this, I don’t like this at all.” you muttered with a shudder. Moving further into the room, you quickly scan the floor for the dead body that was reported. You saw a turned over table, blood, and debris but no body. 

“Fantastic.” you muttered and scanned the surrounding area again. You passed by a large terrarium that looked like it had seen better days, it was cracked and shattered on one side. You read the papers sitting next to it. “Test one complete on Birdeater arachnid. Oh hell no.” you whispered and whipped around training your gun on what you thought was watching you. All that was there was a white webbed blob of a figure stuck to the wall. “Found the body.” 

The hair on the back of your neck stood straight, something was definitely watching you. You slowly made your way over to the sack and pulled out your knife. Pulling your flashlight from your rifle you stuck it between your teeth so you could work. The bitter taste of the metal coated your tongue making you wrinkle your nose in distaste. You carefully cut the webbing away revealing an arm. Sheathing your knife, you calmly pulled a syringe from your hip bag.

As you uncapped the syringe a chittering came from behind you and it sounded big; swallowing thickly you stuck the needle into what you hoped was a vein and pulled the plunger back. You breathed a sigh of relief through your nose when you saw the curdled blood slowly fill the syringe. The chittering and hissing became louder behind you, squeaking you pulled the needle from the arm and capped it. The sound of shouting came over the Comms again. Something bad obviously happened but you couldn’t be concerned about it at that moment. You turned around slowly as you worked to reattach your light. 

And there it was; much, much bigger than it should be. The size of your aunt's old VW Bug, too big. Half up on the ceiling and half on the wall across from you one of it’s eight brown legs tapped in a slow beat, “Crow, report!” your Comm. screamed. Without taking your eyes off the spider you cautiously moved backwards toward the door doing your best to avoid the turned up tables and equipment. Glass crunched under your boots making you wince, the spider blinked and it's two front hooked legs tapped the wall in quick succession, “Crow, report damn it!” Sarge screamed at you through your Comm. 

Looking through your peripheral you saw that the door was closer now. You bumped into a cage of a mutilated cat making it tooth achingly squeal across the floor. The spider hissed and moved down the wall and onto the floor, a couple of it’s legs lifted onto a few stacked cages to accommodate for the lack of room. 

Taking a deep breath you quickly twisted and made a sprint for the door. A loud angry hissing erupted behind you and you broke through the threshold. In an afterthought you hit the button to close the lab door. A bang echoed behind you as you stumbled in the direction you came in. “Sorry Sarge, I uh found I dunno what that was. I locked it in genetics.” you said almost breathlessly. “Get back to the infirmary on the double!” Sarge barked. “Ye-”you were cut off by the sound of a loud bang and crash. “Ah crap.” you muttered and watched as the giant spider squeezed through the doorway of the lab. You fired off a few shots before turning to sprint down the hall. “Report Crow!” Sarge ordered,

“It broke down the fucking door!” you yelped, skidding to a halt and firing off a few more shots. The spider screeched in pain and reared up on it’s back legs, “What is it?” Duke asked over the channel. You fired two more shots before turning and running again, “Spider, very big spider”

The line was silent for a second, “You’re joking!” Portman laughed as you banked a corner. A loud crash behind you caused Portman’s laughter to stop abruptly. "Shit, shit, shit," you chanted turning the corner leading to the airlock door. You saw that it was torn open and dove through it, the demon spider hissed behind you. You turned to see that it slowed down before following you through. 'It learned?' You thought dumbstruck, 'I need a plan, come on think of something (Y/N)!' And that's when you remembered Hunter's gift. Small explosive disks, perfect for taking down walls and giant spiders. 

Running through the atrium you pulled two disks from your belt and slid to your knees; you clicked in the centers and twisted around, with a flick of the wrist you tossed them. They slid for a second before coming to a stop under the arachnid. It screamed and reared up again, pulling your sidearm out you emptied the clip into its center mass. It stood there a moment before falling to the ground and curling in on itself. Panting you fell back onto your butt, “I think I got it.” you said breathlessly. You looked up and was taken aback; everyone was there, weapons ready. Duke and the Kid started cheering and whooping in delight, Destroyer clapped and grinned. Sarge’s lip twitch and he nodded in approval. Sam’s eyes were wide as she took in the creature. Portman simply looked at it in disgust. Reaper walked over and pulled you to your feet, “Spider, huh?” he asked and you scowled. “I hate spiders.” 

You watched as Sam walked around the demon spider, fascination written all over her face. “This was in genetics?” she asked you, eyes wide. “Yup, in all of it’s creepy glory.” you said wrinkling your nose. “It’s male. It has to be Herman.” she said crossing her arms. “Herman?” John asked dryly. Sam nodded, ‘Did you see Karen too?” she asked and your mouth dropped, “Karen? You mean there’s two of them?” you all but shouted. Sam winced, “yeah one male and one female.” she said looking back down at the creature. 

You looked up at Sarge innocently, “So what did I miss?”


	6. Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my wonderful readers, tis time for yet another chapter! Thanks again for editing thottiewithashotgun (Tumblr). And thank you for the kudos and comments! They always bring me joy! My apologies for any typos and I do hope you enjoy chapter 6! 
> 
> -H

Sarge put his hands on his hips, “Go finish the autopsy, and tell me what you find. In the meantime, Reaper, Kid, pairs, cover formation. Sweep the corridors. Go. Destroyer, you and Portman stay here. Shut the airlock. Maintain a perimeter.” his eyes swept over each member of the unit. We all nodded and started to move, you passed Portman and saw that he was anything but compliant. Huffing, you follow Sam and Duke down the long hall toward the infirmary. “ -how in the fuck will we get back home.” Portman’s voice echoed behind you. You rolled your eyes and followed Duke and Sam taking note of the change in direction. “We going the long way?” You asked with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Sam grimaced, “I can’t even explain it. You’re going to have to see for yourself.” she said and Duke grumbled under his breath. 

Walking through the backdoor of the infirmary you stopped in your tracks when you saw it. There, stuck in the center of the nanowall, was another creature, “what in the-” you muttered, moving closer. Sam had stuck an IV in its arm and the demon hummed and purred but otherwise didn’t move or make a sound. “I think it likes you (Y/N)” Duke said with a snort; you shot him a glare before making your way over to Sam who was pulling on another set of gloves. 

“Oh I got that blood sample from genetics,” you said pulling out the syringe and holding it up. Sam smiled pointed to a terminal on the other side of the room, “I put all the data on that.” she said before turning back to the body on the table. You quickly strode over to the terminal and sat down, uncapping the syringe you carefully deposit some of the tainted blood on the scanner. As that was being analyzed you looked through the data Sam put together. The more you read the more concerned you became, ‘It came from the same source.’ you thought clicking through each data file. “Transferred by saliva and blood,” you whisper and quickly pulled up the new sample when it finished. “It’s the same.” 

You got up and jogged over to Sam and Duke, “The blood samples are the same; they come from the same source but the computer doesn’t know what the source is. I think the demons are the scientists..” you said out of breath. Sam and Duke looked at each other. “Look at this,” Sam said and pointed into the open cavity of the demon corpse in front of her. You peered in and frowned, “It has human organs, and the appendix is gone.” you whisper and Sam nodded almost enthusiastically. Duke shook his head, “So, whatever that source is, it’s turning people into monsters?” he asked, sounding none-to-pleased. “Yes. That’s pretty much it,” you said with a heavy sigh. 

Biting your lip you looked over at the demon stuck in the nanowall. You slowly walked over to it and you watched it carefully. Cocking your head to the side you shifted to its left side. ‘The ear is gone.’ your eyes widen, “this is Dr. Carmack!” you gasped and Sam rushed to your side. “Oh my god,” she whispered. A snarling broke the stunned silence between them all, slowly looking over you saw Goat standing at the window that separated the morgue and the rest of the infirmary. “What the fuck?” Duke yelped, stumbling back. Goat roared, making Sam scream and cover her mouth. Duke gripped his weapon and half raised it. You cautiously moved forward and stood a few feet from the glass window. Goat cocked his head to the side curiously, his nostrils flared and he placed a hand on the glass. He stared right at you and hit the window leaving smears of blood. He suddenly jabbed two fingers into his neck wound and brought the bloody fingers to the window. He wrote a single word before slamming his head into the glass repeatedly until he collapsed again. You shook and stumbled toward the morgue door with Duke on your heels. Pushing the door open you knelt next to Goat, hesitantly you placed two fingers on his wrist. Nothing. 

You looked up at Duke and shook your head, and the man sighed rubbing a shaking hand down his face. He froze for a second staring a the window. Frowning, you followed his gaze. The word Goat wrote: 

Promise

You sucked in a breath and shut your eyes to get rid of the stinging. You refused to cry, “I made him a promise. I guess I really need to keep it.” you said quietly getting to your feet. Duke was silent for a second and he looked at you for a long time before it seemed he came to a decision. He put his gun on the metal table next to him and slowly pulled you into a hug. You stiffened but relaxed and hugged him back, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help him.” you whispered and winced when you remembered Johns's words from before. Duke gave you a gentle squeeze and pulled back to look at you with a sad smile, “It’s not your fault baby girl. Don’t forget what Reaper told you.” he said, almost scolding. You laughed and patted Duke’s arm "You caught that, huh?" you asked and he grinned, "Oh yeah I caught all of that. You looked cozy." he chuckled. You rolled your eyes, "We're friends...I think and that's it." you said dismissing his line of thought. He huffed and gave your shoulder another squeeze before picking up his gun again. “You know, you kinda remind me of my little sister,” Duke said glancing at you. You snort and shake your head, “Is that a good thing?” you asked as you both walked back to the main room. Duke chuckled, “Depends on the day. Nah, she’s a badass lady, she’s an MD in Seattle.” he said and you grinned. “No shit, that’s where I’m from.” 

Duke opened his mouth but Sam bolted over to you, “The demon on the table is Dr. Willits.” she said clutching a tablet to her chest. She turned the device around and showed you Willits medical file, “He got his appendix removed and his DNA came back positive.” you whisper and looked at the table. Duke growled annoyed and started to mumble to himself; Pinky broke his personal rant, “Lost Portman on Comm. and all I’ve got on Destroyer is a wall.”   
Huffing in frustration you briskly walked over to the terminal you had been using; looking through the data you thought maybe there was a way to make a cure. There was a presence behind you. Glancing up, you see Sam standing at your shoulder reading over the data. “Do you think we could cure it?” you asked and she pursed her lips.

“I mean it could be possible, I just wish I knew how,” she said in a whisper. On the other side of the room, a door banged open and the boys flooded the room. 

“Destroyer?” Duke said pain lacing his voice. “And Portman,” John said walking in with Portman over his shoulder. He gently dropped Portman on the floor and pulled the dead man’s dog tags from his neck. “What the fuck happened?” you asked voice raising a little; you watched as Duke helped Sarge gently lower Destroyer to the ground. “I got him, I got him. I got you, man.” Duke sobbed quietly. You gripped the table in front of you and started shaking, ‘Destroyer he was such a gentle giant.’ you thought sadly and broke your gaze away from the two long-time friends. You took a quick look over at Portman’s prone form and winced, ‘he was an ass, sure but he didn’t deserve that.’ you gritted your teeth trying to calm your haywire nerves. 

“What the hell is this? And whose goddamn blood is on that window?” Sarge’s sudden yelling made you wince. His baritone brought your pounding headache back to the forefront of your mind. Sam and Duke were quiet, sighing you looked up into Sarge’s raging eyes. “Goat’s. He killed himself,” you said evenly, Sarge set his jaw. “What do you mean, he killed himself? He was already dead.” he hissed losing his temper. You glared about to reply, your own temper at its edge. “It’s true. It’s Goat.” Duke cut in looking at Sarge before shooting you a look, “He was changing into one of these motherfuckers and he killed himself.” he continued, standing up. 

Reaper strode over to the table you were hanging onto and dropped an ID badge onto it with a clatter. “We found two more scientists at the dig. Thurman and a balding guy with glasses,” he said and moved around the table to stand next to you; you breathed deeply again and loosened your grip on the metal. “Dr. Clay.” Sam offered the name of the other scientist and the room was quiet for a few seconds, “Did you check their necks?” Sam asked, eyes darting between the two dead men. “We were conducting a firefight, not an autopsy,” John said frustrated. You sighed and Sarge stepped forward, “We came up here to find six scientists. Four are known dead and Dr. Willits is probably KIA somewhere down in that sewer. The only one missing is Dr. Carmack. Has Dr. Carmack showed up yet?” 

Duke snorted, “Oh, he’s shown up all right.” he said and Sam nodded toward the body stuck in the nanowall. “Look at the left ear.” she said and continued with and gestured to the autopsied demon, “I think this other one is Steve Willits. I checked the med records, it’s a match,” she said holding up her tablet. Sarge looked angrier than before, “What are you people working on up here?” he shouted and Sam recoiled. You glared at Sarge again, feeling almost protective of the doctor. “We’re analyzing bones, artifacts. We’re not doing anything like this,” she said defensively crossing her arms over herself. “Then what the fuck is that?” Sarge snarled, pointing at Dr. Carmack. Sam shook her head, “It must be a genetic mutation, something environmental or viral. I don’t know. It may even be reversible.” she said with a slight shake in her voice. Sarge glowered “It’s irreversible.” he hissed. Sam shook her head again, “Not necessarily.” she said but Sarge pulled out his sidearm and stalked over to Dr. Carmack, he shoved the barrel under Carmacks’ chin, “Dr. Carmack’s condition is irreversible-” the shot rang out in the closed space with finality. You moved to do something but Reaper grabbed the back of your shirt and gently held you in place. Sarge looked Sam in the eye, “- because Carmack’s condition is that he’s dead.” and Sam flinched and glared at her feet. 

Sarge looked over at the wide-eyed rookie, “Kid, you and Duke get back to the dig and you make sure those other dead scientists are really dead.” he said and both soldiers left without a word. John slowly let go of the back of your shirt and moved to stand a foot in front of you. You both watched as Sam got raked over the coals by Sarge; Sam glared and finally shouted back, “I’m telling the truth.” 

Sarge pointed to the terminal, “What were you downloading? What were you sent to protect?” he asked through his teeth. “The research data.” Sam said exasperated, “Research into what?” Sarge asked venomously. Sam shifted and walked toward the terminal, she sat down and pulled up the contents of the disk. A video popped up on the screen, your stomach dropped and you turned pale. “Sometimes I hate it when I’m right.” you mutter. John huffed in disbelief, “You did call it.” he muttered as the video finished. Sam sat there dumbfounded, “What in the hell did we just see?” Sarge asked, anger still present in his voice. 

“Genesis, chapter 1,” John muttered and Sam’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “It doesn’t make any sense,” she whispered deflated. John’s eyes softened slightly, “You trusted them. They lied to you. They used you, Sam.” he said softly. Sam turned in her seat to face her brother, “If he perfected xenogenesis…” she whispered trailing off. John got frustrated and snapped, “ Christ, don’t you get it? It’s this place. It’s hell. It always was. This shit ends here.” he moved to grab the disks but stopped when Sarge moved forward, “What are you doing?” he asked tensely. Both John and you looked at Sarge like he was insane, “We need to destroy these disks.” John said firmly. 

“That’s UAC property,” Sam said numbly and you shook your head. “Fuck the UAC, we should destroy the disks. If we take this data back-” You said voice rising ever so slightly, Sarge scowled at you “We take the data back.” he said cutting you off. “Sarge, do you not see what’s going on here?” John asked incredulously. Scowl still in place Sarge turned his head to look at Reaper, “I didn’t see shit. And I ain’t paid to see shit. I have my orders, and so do you.” he growled and snapped his head towards Sam. “Is this everything?” he snapped. Sam flinched and stuttered. “I-I have three more to download.” 

“Then do it,” Sarge said, voice icy. The Kid called for Sarge over Comm. and you looked over at John worriedly. He looked back at you with a mirrored expression, “This is insane.” you said lowly to him and he sighed and looked over at Sam who was working quietly. “I don’t know what we can do,” he whispered back to you. “Move out. One of the dead scientists is missing.” Sarge ordered making you break eye contact with John. “You just wanna leave her here alone?” John asked angrily, and Sarge waved it off like it wasn’t a problem. “She’s got a job to do,” was all he said before heading to the door. Sam, who had looked up from her work a while ago, had a look of fear flash across her face. Reaper pulled a small device from his vest pocket and pressed it into his sister's hands, “Look, this Portman’s comm. You call if you need help, okay?” he said and she nodded. 

“Will you be alright?” you asked, concern coloring your voice; Sam nodded and gave you a small smile. “I’ll be okay. Please be careful, both of you. Take care of each other.” she said, looking between you and John. You both nodded, “see you soon,” you called over your shoulder before disappearing through the door. 

“This is gonna go to shit,” you muttered to Reaper as you both jogged down the corridor. ‘Oh, I hope you’re wrong this time,”

“No promises!”


	7. Off The Deep End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my loves! Finally chapter 7! Please don't mind the typos, I'm feeling a bit wild, and crazy....maybe I'm just tired after dealing with my family this Thanksgiving. Thank you again to SeleneMoon21 and Wildfire62 for the comments! I just love getting them!!

You and Reaper had just caught up with Sarge who had met up with Duke and the Kid. “System reboot. Time required to begin renewed operation: five minutes. Quarantine cordon is breached.” the computer rang out. You grimaced, “Oh that’s not good.” you muttered. Sarge shot you a glare, “This mission is no longer containment. Get all the weapons and ammo you can. We’re going through. Move!” he barked. You turned back towards the infirmary, “Where do you think you’re going, Crow?” Sarge’s voice echoed around you. “I’m running low on medical supplies. I’m going to restock while I still can,” you said without slowing down or looking back. You faintly heard Sarge yell a few more things but you couldn’t help but not care; ‘he’s spiraling, declaring the situation as it was. It wasn’t going to end well.’ you thought grimly. 

You tilted your head ever so slightly when the sound of running footsteps caught up to you. John strode purposely next to looking worried, “I thought you were on your way to the armory?” you asked, matching his increasing pace. “Sam’s not answering,” he said voice tight, “Well come on then!” you said and started running. John seemed surprised for a moment before he started to follow you, his feet hitting the floor with dull thuds. You skidded to a halt in front of the closed nanawall; Dr. Carmack’s lower back half still hung there limply. You grimaced and slammed your fist down on the button on the control panel, the body fell to the floor with a crunch. “Sam, why didn’t you answer your comm.?” John asked as soon as he entered the room with you behind him. 

Sam looked up from what she was doing and gestured you both over and John huffed, “We gotta go now!” he said urgently. Sam shook her head, “Why did they take Goat and not Destroyer? Why Carmack and not Dr. Thurman?” she said quickly. John looked confused at what she was getting at, “What?” 

Sam stood up quickly, “Lucy had the 24th chromosome but she wasn’t a monster. She died protecting her child, not devouring it. Why did the same chromosome that made her superhuman turn Stahl into a monster?” she asked wildly. “Let’s go,” John said impatiently gesturing toward the exit. “Just give me a minute!” Sam begged; you sighed and shook your head and started to gather the supplies you needed. But Sam’s thought process made your head spin, you moved to pass Reaper but he grabbed your arm dragging you to a stop. “Wha-” you were going to argue but the look on his face made you turn and look at Sam. She showed you exactly what she just showed her brother, She took forceps and dragged it across the slug looking thing that came from Dr. Carmack. It reacted severely, the slug thrashed and hissed and then became still, “That was brain matter from Portman.” she whispered, setting down the forceps. She picked up another pair and repeated the motion, the slug kept still. “Brain matter from Destroyer,” she whispered. 

“It chooses who it infects,” you whisper awed, “Ten percent of the human genome is still unmapped. Some say it’s the genetic blueprint for the soul.” Sam said with a grin. You looked down at the slug almost unseeing, “Makes sense on why they left. Made the synthetic chromosome, some turn out for the better while others not so much.” you said and the twins were quiet. Your eyes widen, “We need to go now!” you said whipping around to face Reaper. He looked almost startled, “Yeah (Y/N) I know that’s what-” he said but you grabbed the arm that was still holding onto you. “John, not everyone will be infected. They don’t have to die,” you said urgently eyes on fire. His breath caught and he let you go. For a split second your arm tingled but you shook it off and rushed for the door with the Grimm twins behind you. “What’s going on?” Sam asked from behind you. “Sarge is going to kill them all,” John growled picking up his pace. You skidded to a hard stop next to the computer console in the Ark room, you started up the sequence as John and Sam showed up. “Ark travel in ten seconds.” the computer rang out. You stepped up so you were between the two siblings, “ Ugh Ark travel.” you mutter disgusted and Reaper couldn’t help but smirk. 

“You wanna go first?” You asked with a raised eyebrow and John rolled his eyes moving forward. You watched as Reaper was engulfed by the swirling silver mass one last time, “Sam go.” you urged after the computer started the countdown again. Sam took a deep breath and stepped forward; the clock counted to zero and Sam was gone. Taking a shuddering breath you stepped up to the plate, the computer’s female monotone counted down and you braced as it hit zero. 

The sensation of everything and nothing hit you like a ton of bricks, you stumbled out and almost fell to your knees. You would have if Reaper didn’t catch you, “Thanks,” you gasped your jaw clenched. John held on until you could stand on your own, “It’s okay, deep breaths.” he whispered to you. You slowly straightened, holding on to his shoulder “God, I hope to never do that again.” you chuckled dryly. That’s when you saw bodies that littered the Ark room floor; “Oh my god.” you gasped eyes wide. John squeezed your shoulder as Sam looked over at the both of you with unshed tears in her eyes. 

Gritting your teeth you activated your Comm. “Sarge, what’s your position? Sarge, come in. Do you copy?” you voice cold and even. No response. You scowled and Reaper turned his Comm. on, “ Come in, Sarge. Do you read me? Over. Sarge, come in, do you copy?” he asked his voice a low growl. A few seconds passed by before Sarge’s voice filters through, “Loud and clear,” he said sounding almost chipper. A severe scowl crossed your features, “so childish.” you mutter with a shake of your head. The three of you moved forward carefully stepping over the dead. 

Reaper’s eyes narrowed, “Look, do not kill everybody. I repeat, do not kill everybody. They’re not all infected.” he said calmly. Static only greeted you, “Do you copy?” Reaper repeated. Another pause, “Copy that.” came the C.O.’s response with the sound of a gunshot. Sam flinched while you and John just looked at each other, “John.” you said warningly. The man beside you looked conflicted, “I know, I know.” he said avoiding eye contact. You stopped by the computer console and scanned the screens. Sam and John were huddled together whispering back and forth, they’re conversation seemed pretty heavy so you kept your attention on what was in front of you. You tapped at the keyboard; pulling up the security feed. “Sarge and Duke are on their way,” you said looking up through your lashes before looking back down again. John suddenly looked a little flustered but you assumed it had to be because of what was happening. What you didn’t see was Sam hiding a smile behind her hand; John cleared his throat and worked to get his thoughts under control. He saw that Sam was watching him intently, “stop,” he warned and she waved it off. 

Sarge and Duke took that moment to enter the room; Sarge peers over your shoulder, “What are you doing?” he asked a little too close for comfort. “I’m looking at security footage, I was hoping to track the infected that traveled through the Ark.” you muttered trying to hold in your anger and frustration. Sarge straightened and crossed his arms, “You don’t have to kill all of them. I don’t everyone is infected, or even capable of being infected.” Sam said gaining Sarge’s attention away from you. You look up at Duke who was standing a few feet away; you motioned for him to come over. He sauntered over to you and bent down over the desk, “is it true?” he asked in a whisper. You give a small nod, “yeah saw it for myself.” you whispered back. You moved your finger on the touchpad and promptly frowned, ‘where is everyone?’ you ask yourself. 

“Can you go over to that terminal and bring up the quarantine clock?” you asked Duke, he nodded and moved to the other end of the desk. He set his gun down and began to slowly tap at the keyboard with two fingers. Snorting you looked up at the argument, ”Am I glad to see you guys. That thing cut right through the door. I tried to use the grenade but it came at me too fast. Followed me through the Ark, and started to kill everybody. It was horrible.” a voice broke the tension. You all looked over to see Pinky rolling in and immediately stopped when Sarge pointed his gun at his head. Pinky held up his hand’s eyes wide; you walked quickly over to Pinky ignoring the gun pointed in your general direction. You placed a hand on Pinky’s forehead and tilted it so you could look at his neck from all sides. “He hasn’t been bitten. He’s clean,” you said stepping away from the shaking man looking Sarge in the eye. 

Sarge glared at you lowering his weapon slightly, “I say who’s clean and who’s not.” he hissed teeth clenched. You narrowed your eyes square your shoulders; despite not saying anything the challenge was pretty clear. Pinky clammed up beside you and babbled trying to save himself, “Sarge!” another voice broke the standoff, the Kid entered the fray. Sarge’s eyes turn from you to the young private, “There’s a storeroom to the south. It’s got, like, 20 people inside of it. We gotta do something.” he said panting worn out. Your eyes flicked to John, he stood ramrod straight. Fists clenching and unclenching; he looked conflicted. His eyes flicked and caught yours, ‘You good?’ he silently asked and your lips thinned. A clear ‘no,’ 

Sarge wasn’t happy with the Kid, “Your orders were to clear that sector. Is it cleared?” he asked anger seeping into his every word. The Kid looked shocked, “N-no, I told him to stay put. They’re okay. They’re just scared shitless.” he said. You couldn’t see him but you could hear the fear in his voice. Turning your body ever so slightly you slowly inch to get closer to him; you didn’t take your eyes off Sarge or the sidearm that was still gripped in his hand. “We kill them all. Let God sort them out,” he said coldly. Out of your peripheral, you saw the Kid shake his head, “This is wrong. I think-” 

“-Son, you don’t think. That’s an order. We’re in the field soldier.” Sarge snapped voice booming. The Kid stiffened, “Sarge if nothing’s found them…” the Kid tried again; you held your breath and moved another inch or two. “You will obey the direct order of your commanding officer.” Sarge seethed, teeth bared. Your heart thudded in your chest as you moved another few inches, you were a few feet away from him. “No.” the Kid refused and you truly wanted to praise him, but now wasn’t the time to disobey Sarge right to his face. “Now.” Sarge boomed; Sam squeaked from where she retreated. Duke stood in front of her by the terminal; the Kid squared his shoulders to be like yours. Defiant. “Go to hell,” he said fists clenched by his side. You were close to him now but not close enough; the shot echoed through the room and sent painful echoes through your head. 

“Holy shit!” Duke yelped and Sam screamed, “oh my god!” 

The Kid fell to the ground, blood spurting from his neck. His terrified wide eyes were on you pleading for help. You moved a few steps before another shot rang out, this time it hit the floor by your feet. “Don’t move Crow,” Sarge growled. Reaper screamed at Sarge angrily but the larger man paid him no heed, you and Sarge didn’t take eyes off of one another. You glared and trembled in anger; he seemed more relaxed now that the fly in his ear was gone. You had to watch as John tried and failed to stop the bleeding; you had to watch as the Kid died, his eyes boring into you. Once the Kid was still and unseeing Sarge lowered his gun off of you, “It was his first mission!” Reaper shouted at his C.O. and Sarge rolled his eyes, “And it’s not gonna be my last. I need soldiers. I don’t need anybody else but soldiers.” he said with the curl of his lip. 

He waved his gun at you again, “You’re on thin ice little girl,” he warned making you bristle like a pissed-off cat. Reaper stood slowly nostrils flaring, he stepped over the Kid to get closer to you and his sister. He put his hands on his primary weapon tensing for a fight that will inevitably break out. The cocking of another gun sounded from behind you, you stiffened and turned. “Drop the weapons. I mean it. I have no intention of being killed by a madman. Drop the weapons.” Pinky shouted brandishing the handgun Mac must have given him earlier. 

Your eyes went from pinky to the creature that lurked behind him; you slowly backed away from the wheelchair-bound man toward Reaper. You caught Duke’s eye and subtly motioned for them to get back. Duke wrapped an arm around Sam who held a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out. They cautiously moved back towards the far wall; you squeaked slightly when your foot hit the Kid’s leg. Reaper reached out a hand to your elbow and eased you back. The demon growled bizarrely its eyes were on you, it’s growling became louder the further you moved away. Pinky’s eyes were wide in fear, “There’s something behind me, isn’t there?” he squeaked. 

The demon roared and grabbed Pinky flinging him around in the air. His screams echoed the Ark room and you felt someone push you to the ground. You whipped your head around to see Reaper on the floor with but his eyes were half-closed. “John!” you yelped and scrambled over to the prone man. He groaned as you checked his face gently, “hey come on we gotta move.” you urged gently tapping his cheeks. His green eyes fluttered open to meet yours, they then darted around to the chaos that was happening around you. He nodded, “I’m good.” he murmured, patting your elbow. Sighing in relief you moved, gripping Reaper’s arm to help him to his feet. 

You swung your rifle from your back and surged forward with Reaper at your hip, “Move!” Sarge ordered rushing after the demon; “Sam keep back!” John ordered and eyed Duke for a second. Duke nodded and kept in front of the good Doctor. One by one you all passed through a nanowall and down a darkened corridor. Halfway down Sarge held up a closed fist, “Listen,” he cautioned. You held your breath straining your ears, the pounding in your head became worse by the passing hours. Sarge quickly turned eyes wide, “Withdraw! WIthdraw behind the nanowall.” he shouted urging you all back the way you came. You gasped seeing what Sarge saw; a horde of infected sprinted down the corridor in your direction. Turning on your heels you ran back, your feet barely touching the ground. 

Reaper fired off some shots behind you and called for a magazine; you got through the nanowall and turned. You raised your rifle as Reaper sprinted through; Duke tossed him a mag and you fired on the first infected you saw. Sarge slammed his fist down on the control panel attempting to close the nanowall. He hit it too hard because the wall began to splutter and flicker on and off, ‘great!’ you thought bitterly. “(Y/N) move!” John shouted from behind you, you swung around and quickly moved to a better position. “Fuck! The wall’s not closing!” Duke shouted and Sam screamed as arms shoved past the malfunctioning wall. One managed to grab onto Sarge’s leg, “I’m not supposed to die.” he shouted, and then he was gone. You backed up so you were shoulder to shoulder with Duke protecting Sam, “John let’s go!” you shouted as you covered his retreat. He fired a couple more shots before moving back, an abrupt growling broke your focus. Looking down on the grate you and Duke stood on you saw it, gasping you pulled Duke off and you both crashed to the floor. “Holy shit!” he screamed, firing into the grating. 

Sam ran to Duke and pulled him up while you scrambled to your own feet running after Reaper. “Come on!” you shouted making sure they passed you. You emptied your clip before following them down another adjacent hallway. Duke held open a door for you waving a hand wildly for you to hurry. You practically flew into the room slamming into a bunch of crates and boxes; the door closed with a thud and a hiss. Without taking a breather you, Duke and Reaper piled anything you could get your hands on in front of the door. After you had run out of heavy objects you leaned against a wall breathing heavily. You closed your eyes and ran a shaky hand through your mussed up hair, opening them again you eyed John. He leaned against the opposite wall looking pale, “John?” you questioned moving closer to him; he lifted his hand to wave you off but it was covered in blood. He slid down the wall, eyes drooping he watched as you rushed to his side, 

“Sam, he’s been shot!”


	8. Arachnophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back! It's been a little while but now that Christmas is over I have a bit more time to write for the series. It may have some typos but that's a usual thing with me. I have no beta (For now). I hope ya'll enjoy it!

“Sam, he’s been shot!” 

Sam rushed to your side all the color gone from her face. “John stay awake, keep your eyes open,” you whispered to him gently as you pulled a gauze packet from your vest. Ripping it open you pressed it firmly on the wound. John groaned and flicked his eyes to you, “You need to get Sam out. Please get her out,” he begged quietly. “He’s getting cold,” Sam whispered clutching her brother’s hand. You looked away and dug through the small bag on your hip; you felt a shaky hand turn your head back. John’s eyes were drooping shut, he didn’t say anything just watched you until he couldn’t. He knew there was nothing you could do, “John, stay with me. Stay awake,” Sam pleaded, patting the man’s cheek rousing him again. “John, stay with me, please,” Sam whispered, voice breaking slightly. You pulled out a small thing of adrenaline and injected it into one of John's veins. It would buy a little time; only a little. John let out a little gasp and sat up a little straighter, he looked at you for just a second before letting his gaze fall on his sister. His hand lifted slightly from the ground and rested over your hand that was braced on the floor by his thigh. Well hidden from Sam and Duke. 

She pulled out a vial from her pocket, “what’s that?” John slurred attempting to lift his hand. You stiffened, “Sam, we have no way of knowing what effect it will have,” you warned gently. Sam bit her lip holding up the vial for John to see, “It’s C-24. It’s from Carmack’s lab,” she whispered sounding hopeful. John just shook his head, “No.” he refused weakly. “John you’re bleeding to death,” you offered but didn’t push. It was ultimately his decision, “It could save you,” Sam pleaded. “No way, forget it” John ground out nostrils flaring. You looked over your shoulder at Duke who was sitting in the corner of the room head down in his hands. He wanted to give the two siblings some peace before the inevitable happened. “I’ve done some bad things,” John whispered, still trying to convince his sister; she wouldn’t have any of it. “I know you,” 

John shook his head smiling sadly, “You don’t know me. You don’t know,” he murmured tiredly. The adrenaline was wearing off. “You’re my brother. I know you,” Sam sniffed tears rolling down her cheeks. You suddenly felt like you were intruding on something private, moving to leave you felt John's hand tighten over yours keeping you in place. You looked at him confused; eyebrows furrowed, you repositioned yourself so you were kneeling and holding the dying man’s hand with both of yours. John took a breath and made eye contact with you, “If I should turn into one of those demons,” he nodded in the direction of your sidearm, and your breath caught in your throat. “One through the heart, one through the head, don’t you hesitate. Okay?” he asked, squeezing your hand tightly. You hesitated, “(Y/N) please,” 

Looking him in the eyes you nodded blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. Sam pulled a capped syringe from her pocket and filled it taking only half of the liquid in the vial. She put the rest away and gently pulled John’s arm up, finding a vein she inserted the needle and pressed the plunger down. Duke placed a hand on your shoulder making you jump, “You’ll be okay John,” you whispered letting go of his hand and carefully helped him lie down. Pushing his hair back you had him reapply pressure to his wound. His other hand pulled the ST grenade from his vest and placed it in your hands; he smiled at you before closing his eyes for what you thought was the last time. Sam sniffed hands swatting at the tears that fell. The pounding on the door grew more intense, the roaring and growling grew louder making you grip the ST grenade harder. 

Duke moved so Sam was behind him while you stowed the grenade away to use later. Picking up your rifle from where you discarded it earlier, you took aim at the buckling door. Taking a deep breath you backed up so you were standing in front of Reaper and a solid three feet from Duke. The door groaned and shot inwards; yelping you turned to the side to avoid the twisted metal; it clipped your bad shoulder making your vision blacken ever so slightly, “(Y/N)!” you heard Sam scream and one of the turned was on you. Before you could be tackled to the ground you grabbed your aggressor’s wrist, twisting it and pulling so his arm was wrenched behind him. Hooking your ankle with the demons you pulled making it crash to the floor with its arms still in your grasp. Kicking your leg up and over its body so both your feet were on either side of the demon’s neck. It howled and roared at you before you tightened the gap and gave a twist. This took simple seconds to do and Duke was about to get swarmed; pulling your rifle back into position you fired. 

The demons went down quickly after that. When the room was silent again you looked down at Reaper. His chest was still; he looked like he was in a deep sleep. Duke took Sam’s hand and led her out of the room before she could inquire about her brother, he stopped and turned to look at you questioningly. You hadn’t moved, “Go get close to the elevator and hunker down. I’m going to confirm Sarge is gone then I’ll join you,” you said voice even. Duke hesitated but nodded, “For the love of God (Y/N) be careful,” Sam urged before disappearing. When they were gone you bent at the waist and sobbed; every member of the team flashed through your mind. After a minute of misery, you pulled yourself up, willing the adrenaline to keep pumping for just a little while longer. You groaned feeling your cracked ribs and concussed head, your stitches pulled and your body ached. You were bone tired. Setting your rifle down you cleared the bodies away from Reaper, piling them in the corner. Looking at the space as you panted out of breath; grabbing the edge of a large crate you dragged it across the floor. It screeched in protest as you positioned it in front of Reaper obscuring the view of anyone in the corridor. You piled anything that would fit on top of the crate until you couldn’t anymore, wiping your dirty hands on your pants as you looked up into the mirror ahead of you. Flinching at your reflection you knelt down and pulled John’s dog tags from around his neck; examining them for a moment you fixed the clasp and pulled the tags over your head. His tags clinked against yours like sad, bloody windchimes, your hand curled around your own tags. Your hand rested there before you gave a sharp tug and they fell away with a snap. Standing you turned toward the mirror again, your eyes reflected dully back at you. Huffing you draped your military career over the side of the mirror. They hung there swinging back and forth like a pendulum, “Was it worth it?” you asked the reflection. She just stared back at you sadly. Scoffing you pick up your weapon again before leaving the storeroom. 

You jogged down the empty corridor before coming to the completely broken nanowall. Half of the wall was solid while the other half was not, “Oh that’s safe,” you muttered creeping closer, gun raised. Crouching you quickly ducked under the solid bit, once you were on the other side you breathed a sigh of relief. Clicking your flashlight on you checked down the dark hall. Seeing and hearing nothing you eyed the blood trail, “It looks like I’m going left,” you mused following the bright stain. Everything was too quiet, every creak and groan made you tense and freeze. The blood trail seemed to go on forever when in reality it only went on for a few hallways; it finally ended in front of large double doors. 

You grabbed the handle of the door and quickly swung it open. Checking your corners you entered the room activating the lights and you immediately regretted it. The room was covered in webs and sacks of people to be saved for later. “How did it even get here?” you questioned exasperated. Your head was on a swivel as you walked through the large mess hall with hesitant steps, “ Why does this shit always happen to me?” you muttered trigger finger twitching at every little sound. “(Y/N) are you okay? Did you find Sarge?” Sam whispered over the comm. “I’m...I think I found Karen,” you said nervously laughing, there was a long pause. “Shit,” Duke said, at last, being less than helpful, “Thank You, Duke, for your wise words of encouragement,” you deadpanned. 

You felt a sudden warmth envelop your back, a chittering hiss rang loudly in your ear. Squeaking you slowly turned to see Karen hanging upside down from her web gnawing on what was left of a scientist. “Heh, good Karen. Smart Karen...did I ever mention what a lovely name that is?” you chuckled dryly slowly backing up. You only stopped when the back of your legs hit a table. Karen chittered again dropping the body to the ground with a sickening thud, “I think complimenting her will definitely keep her from eating you,” you heard Duke deadpanned over the line.

“Duke you and I need to have a long ass chat about being you being so un-fucking-helpful,“ you hissed watching as Karen lowered herself to the ground. You and the giant arachnid stared each sizing the other up; slowly without taking your eyes away tiptoed to the mess hall doors. The giant spider chittered and hissed sending cold chills to shoot down your spine. She followed you ever so slowly around the upturned tables and chairs as if she were afraid she was going to spook you into running. ‘Why does she have to be smart?’ you mentally screamed your heartbeat echoing in your ears. You froze when your heel came in contact with a chair violently; it skidded on the tiled floor behind you. “Ah crap,” you muttered shoulder sagging. 

Karen seemed to growl lowly before pouncing, you yelped as you were tossed onto one of the mess hall tables that weren’t twisted and flipped over. You wheezed the breath being completely knocked out of you, rolling so you fell to the floor you stagger to your feet. The wall next to you shuddered and the sound of multiple chitters and clicks made you freeze and slowly look over. One of the white sacks burst open releasing a multitude of baby spiders. “SHE HAS BABIES!” you couldn’t help but scream. You flew past Karen ducking one of her legs as she swung a leg towards your head. Without a glance over your shoulder, you launched yourself into the kitchen. The door swung back and forth behind you for a second before it was flung inward by several legs: Karen hissed at you angrily trying to squeeze her body through the small opening. Squeaking you skidded to a halt in front of a line of gas ovens. Quickly you turned every knob so the gas slowly filled the room, coughing you covered your nose and mouth watching as the monster squeezed through the kitchen door. Backing up slowly you pulled your last charge disk from your belt, “Okay you freak of nature,” you growled clicking the center of the disk. The giant spider hissed and chittered angrily. 

Tossing the disk, you turned and darted out a secondary door from the kitchen to the adjacent corridor. A scalding heat scorched your back tossing you forward; a scream tore through your throat. Landing harshly on the floor you whimpered the sound of Sam and Duke calling for you to answer them. You wanted to answer them and say that you were alright but you felt so heavy and the dark consumed you quickly. 

Things were muffled and everything was eerily still; John gasped awake the sound of a distant scream bringing him back to awareness. Swallowing thickly John rolled himself onto his hands and knees; he pulled himself to his feet before stumbling over to a sink and mirror. John looked at his healed, bloody face with numb astonishment, “Damn,” he whispered, turning his face side to side. Furrowing his brows John reached out for the set of dog tags hanging on the corner of the mirror, “where did you go (Y/N)?” he whispered running a thumb over the rough face of the tags. Slipping them quickly over his head John grabbed his discarded weapon before running out the door.


	9. Siberia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is everyone the last official chapter! The journey has been amazing and I look forward to continuing it with all of you! Remember there is no beta! I'm sorry for any typos you may see!

The sound of distant gunfire pulled you from the dark, a fire burned at your back. A hiss of pain escaped your lips, “I hope I never have to do that again,” your voice came out raspy, your mouth dry as the desert above you. Making the necessary checks, nothing seemed too bad, well besides the giant burn on your back. Finding purchase you pushed yourself off of the ground, wincing at all the aches and pains. Climbing to your feet, you stumble into the corridor wall. The gunfire continued making you look for your weapon, groaning in frustration you saw it amongst the debris warped and battered. 

You pulled your sidearm from its holster; using the wall as a crutch you made your way in the direction of the gunfire. The ARK chamber. 

The trek took longer than it should have; panting you gripped the edge of the stone doorway that led into the ARK. “Hello, Crow,” a voice growled from behind you, a large hand landed on your shoulder and squeezed. Yelping in pain you were swiveled around so you were facing Sarge, his eyes seemed to glow unnaturally. He grinned like a predator, the grip on your shoulder getting tighter. “Murderous son of a-” 

And before you knew what was happening you were flying through the air. You landed with a strangled cry, crashing into an abandoned security desk. Crumpling to the ground you gasped out, pain scorched through your body like a wildfire. Gingerly you lifted your arm to your chest, ‘broken’ you grumbled. Sarge was on you again, he reached down with a sadistic smile and wrapped a meaty hand around your throat. The air entering your body suddenly stopped as he lifted you off of the ground. Your heart pounded in your ears while your head throbbed and bled freely; shifting your eyes you saw them and worry coursed through you. 

Sam and Duke skidded to a halt by the entrance, clawing at Sarge’s hand you kick your feet out bracing them against his chest trying desperately to get out of his grasp. It didn’t phase him in the slightest. Sam held Duke back from raising his gun, “You might hit (Y/N),” she said worriedly.

Sarge turned, your body struggling in grasp. “Duke, fall in! We got shit to do!” Sarge barked and Duke scowled stepping in front of Sam. “With all due respect Sarge but fuck you,” he hissed raising his gun. Sarge chuckled and held you up like a dying shield; Duke wavered uncertainly. 

“Go!” you managed to gasp out pleadingly. “Da’mit Duke, go” you gurgled vision dimming at the lack of oxygen. Duke cursed and dragged Sam back out the ARK chamber door. Sarge chuckled darkly glancing at the quarantine timer, “I’ll find them soon,” he promised. You hissed, one of your hands falling limply to your side as your struggling stopped. Sarge set down his rather large gun, sniffing the air. He brought his empty hand to your hair and petted you softly. 

“Well, that’s new,” he purred, sniffing again. His grip on your neck loosened slightly allowing a minuscule amount of air back into your lungs. ‘I’ll take whatever I can get,’ you thought numbly. Sarge lowered you to the floor but kept his hold on your throat, 

“I just might keep you alive,” he purred stroking your cheek. Wrinkling your nose at the promises in his words you glare at him, 

“Sorry, Sarge but I’m just not that into you,” you growled your hand brushing over the knife on your hip. Sarge just chuckled removing his hand from your throat so he could grip your chin, his hold caused your cheeks to puff into a pout. 

“I would gladly take you here and now,” his chest rumbled in an animalistic growl. His words made a chill travel up and down your spine, “Here’s an idea, how about you go fuck yourself,” you snarled. Swiftly pulled the knife out of its sheath you drive it into the junction between Sarge’s shoulder and neck. 

The man howled in pain instantly letting you go. Baring his teeth Sarge swung; you flew through the air into the security desk again officially shattering the glass and plastic. A newfound pain blossomed over your body, “I really have to learn not to agitate things that are infected with C24,” you cried letting your head drop with a dull thud. Your hands drifted to your stomach a large shard of glass was sticking out of your abdomen. 

Sarge loomed over you looking mildly disappointed as if he accidentally broke his new toy. “Damn,” he grumbled before moving away to let you bleed out. What’s left of the adrenaline that had been pouring through you all night had finally drained away. Through the pain, you started to feel cold and numb, ‘that’s not good,’ you thought weakly. The sound of talking and shouting pulled you back from submerging into the dark, “She’s dead Reaper,” 

A howl of rage echoed across the room and the sound of fighting. Flesh punching flesh and the boom of what had to be Sarge’s “BFG,” 

“(Y/N), oh my God!” Sam flew to your side ducking low before falling to her knees beside you. Duke ran to your other side and rested a friendly hand on your forehead. You cried out when Sam gently pressed her hands around the glass, “It’s okay, you’ll be okay!” Sam sobbed. 

She took away her hands and reached into her pocket fumbling with the tiny vial. “Sam,” Duke warned uneasily as he held one of your hands. Sam set the vial down so she could fumble through your pockets looking for a spare syringe. Finding one in your hip pouch, Sam snatched the vial up off the ground. 

“Pull the glass out,” Sam whispered to Duke as she injected C24 into your neck. You whimpered when Duke carefully pulled the shard of glass from your abdomen, “You’ll be alright baby doll,” he murmured smoothing down your hair while placing his other hand over his sidearm. The fighting grew more intense making both Sam and Duke duck and bend over you like two concerned parents. You looked at them blearily a few tears escaping your eyes, your vision getting darker and darker by the second. “You’ll be okay,” Sam soothed placing her hand over Dukes, the sound of ARK activating in the background made them peer over the broken security desk. “(Y/N)!” John’s voice echoed through your head as you faded away. 

Whispers and warmth greeted you when you swam back to the surface of consciousness again. For the millionth time that night. Everything ached like growing pains but you no longer felt intense pain. Opening your eyes took some effort but when you did you immediately regretted it, “Oh what the fuck,” you groaned scrunching up your nose in distaste. You snapped your eyes closed again hoping to keep the bright lights at bay. 

The whispers turned into amused chuckles, “Welcome back to the land of the living,” Duke said somewhere to your left. “Why is it so damn bright?” you hissed turning your head away into a rough vest. That’s when you realized, arms held onto you, and the warmth that you were thoroughly enjoying belonged to someone. Someone who smelt rather nice, opening up your eyes again, you look up. John looked down at you with his dark hazel eyes, 

“I’m still trying to get used to it,” he chuckled, he smiled down at you crookedly. You groaned a little, “Right, I’m superhuman now,” 

Sam peered over at you with her own grin, “I’m just glad you’re not insane and trying to eat people,” she teased. You snort and gave her a thumbs-up, “I aim to please,” 

John looked like he was struggling with something and kept sniffing the area near your hair. “Do I smell that bad?” you asked jokingly. 

Duke snorted, “I think we all smell damn bad,” he grumbled sniffing his pits with a grimace. John’s quiet laughter shook you gently, “No you don’t smell bad,” he whispered to you. He looked away as the elevator became a little tense. Sam snickered, “So uh how did all this spider webbing get into your hair?” she asked picking a few more wisps from your head. 

You shudder, “Spiders, never again. I officially have a phobia,” you muttered resting your head against John’s shoulder in defeat. The elevator slowed to a stop and dinged; the doors opened revealing a platoon’s worth of soldiers. They stood there, weapons aimed, red dot sites dancing over you and the others. Duke and Sam put up their hands as John led them onto the tarmac,

“Stand down!” a voice shouted and the red dots disappeared. A familiar man pushed through the crowd, “Crow!” he shouted jogging over to the elevator entrance. You gripped John’s vest and whipped your head around, “Hunter!” the relief in your voice was evident. You were so happy to see your commanding officer that you didn’t notice John stiffen. His arms tightened around you as Gunnery Sergeant Edward Cayden approached. 

“Ed, Siberia,” you hissed making eye contact with him. Your CO stiffened upon hearing the code word; to everyone on your team it meant danger, get out now. His eyes went from concern to serious, nodding once Hunter led your small group to a waiting chopper. Everyone from RRTS unit 4 was there, they all looked relieved to see that you were alright. Big brothers and crazy uncles the lot of them. Hunter spoke lowly into the team’s comm, “Siberia,”   
They all stiffened before they wrapped the survivors up in a protective bubble. “Icarus, Manny, why don’t you take over for our pilots,” Hunter suggested casually. Both men broke off from the group swiftly and opened the front cab of the helo, the pilots protested but did as they were told anyway. Hunter activated the main door and watched as everyone piled in; one of the boys offered to take you but John simply ignored him and stepped up into the transport with little difficulty. 

“Leave them be Rust,” Hunter barked when the man began to protest. You gave your team a reassuring smile hoping to put everyone at ease. Sam took the seat next to when John set you down and buckled you in. She took your hand, eyes flitting from face to face, “It’s okay,” you whispered to her but made sure John and Duke heard you as well. A solid fifteen minutes after takeoff Hunter crouched in front of your lips pressed tightly together. 

“What do you need kid?” he whispered, no one spoke as they watched you. Taking a deep breath you looked your friend dead in the eye, “To disappear,” 

The men looked at each other and nodded, “I can’t ask any of you-” you hurried over your words but your unit already began making preparations. They stripped their comms and pulled apart their weapons. Rust moved over to a panel in the floor and yanked it up revealing a mass of wires and circuits, he fiddled for a moment before yanking out a few bits of tech. The mass of wires sparked for a moment and settled again. 

“Tracker is offline, we’re ghosts for a little while,” he said and Hunter nodded once. “Icarus, we need to disappear,” he pounded on the cockpit door. A double-tap of understanding echoed back. He looked back at you and the shocked faces of your companions, “Time to become ghosts!” he cheered enthusiastically. 

“Hunt-” you protested and the men started shouting at you to shut up; smirking you looked down at your feet. Hunter stopped in front of you while the tech of your ragtag team tossed the trackers out the partially opened door. “You’re family (Y/N) and if you of all people invoked Siberia then-” he looked around and the men began whooping in agreement, “Then something big went down and we need to get you out of the fire,” 

“What happened sis?” the tech affectionately named I.T. asked. Everyone quieted down; you looked over at John biting your lip. He inclined his head a fraction in a silent ‘Do you trust them?’ looking at every member of your team you let your eyes flit back to him with and nodded. The silent conversation only lasted seconds but it spoke volumes. He reached down squeezing your hand, ‘I trust you,’ 

Taking a deep shuddering breath you turned your attention to your captive audience, 

“It all started with a girl named Lucy…”


	10. Epilogue: PInky Promise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! This is it. This is the final chapter of "To Hell And Back"! I hope y'all enjoy and I'll see you in the next installment! No Beta will have typos!

Seven Years Ago: 

Mission: Classified

Location: Classified 

Your breath came out in cool white puffs as you ran through the snow-covered forest. A small child gripped onto your coat as you bobbed and weaved through the trees. She babbled in Russian tears streaming down her cheeks, she screamed as gunshots followed you. 

Huffing you skidded to a halt at the edge of a cliff, snow and rocks tumbled to the icy river below. The little girl whimpered and shook in your arms,

“It’s gonna be okay sweetie,” you whispered hoping to convey reassurance. Bullets whizzed past you making you duck and turn so the child didn’t get hit. The angry shouts spurred on the crazy idea that you had been mulling over. 

“Here goes nothing,” you growled and jumped off the cliff. 

You gasped at the cold biting into you, the breath in your lungs flew out of you like air out of a balloon. Holding onto the little girl you broke the surface of the churning river; the girl coughed and spluttered, her teeth chattering. “Crow!” a few voices shouted, looking over you saw your team running alongside the bank trying to desperately figure out how you fish you from the freezing water. Dipping under the water again you barely felt the hand that grabbed the back of your vest. Breaking the surface you took a deep breath, the girl screamed and cried in fear. Coughing you did the best to shush and soothe her, “It’s-it’s okay,” your teeth chattered. Multiple hands pulled you from the icy water and dragged you to the bank of the river. 

Your CO leaned over you with an amused crooked smile on his lips, “Did you really have to disappear like that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. You snorted a hysterical laugh, “Siberia Hunter, I needed to become a ghost,” 

Hunter grunted and shook his head, “Warn me next time will yeh?” 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

One Year after Olduvai

Mission: Survive

Location: Classified

You watched the crowd casually, your sundress a pop of color against your skin. The coffee set in front of you had long since gone cold. Dark hazel eyes watched you from across the table, 

“What John?” you asked with a sigh rolling your head in his direction. John smirked tapping the bistro table with a single finger. He didn’t say anything, just watched you like you the most fascinating thing in the world. 

“John,” you grumbled and the man sat up from his slouching position. “You’re leaving,” he whispered, he didn’t phrase it like a question. There were no anger, malice, or accusations in his tone; just sadness. You winced anyway heart cracking a fraction, swallowing you looked down at your forgotten coffee. 

“I have to,” you mumbled, the cafe awning did nothing to combat the heat that surrounded you. John gritted his teeth, “You don’t,” he ground out frustration evident.

You shot him a look, “John it’s dangerous when we’re together, we’ve almost been caught four times in the past six months.” you hissed leaning forward. He followed your actions so you were inches apart; there was a fire in his eyes and he didn’t want to let go. He deflated in defeat when your words rang true. You brushed a strand of hair off of his forehead, “Get a haircut,” you advised making him chuckle and shake his head. Smiling you leaned over the table, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, “I’ll miss you,” you whispered. 

John cupped your cheek eyes searching yours, “Promise I’ll see you again,” 

You grinned at him and held out your pinky, John snorted another laugh before intertwining his pinky with yours. “Promise. You’re my best friend John, I need you in my fucked up life,” you snickered. The man in front of you grinned back at you, “Yeah we need to make a club,” he groused with a roll of his eyes. Your hands fell apart as you stood, “We’ll make t-shirts,” you joked grabbing your back. John looked sad again as he watched you round the table to his side, “We’ll see each other again,” you kissed his head again. You drifted into the crowd easily getting lost within it. You had both promised each other a long time ago that you would never say “Goodbye,” 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Five Years after Olduvai: Present Day

Mission: Destroy remaining ARKS

Location: Egypt 

You scowled behind the black cloth that covered your mouth as the sandstorm continued. “How much longer?” you shouted over the wind. Your contact held up five fingers as he primed the charges. Setting your jaw you squinted out toward Cairo, ‘God I hope Cooper is still doing his damn job,’ you prayed silently. Looking back down the stone corridor again you saw that your contact and demo expert run toward you holding his baseball cap in place with one hand. “Oh this so illegal,” he squealed, running past you to get to the camels as fast as possible. Rolling your eyes you silently follow him only stumbling forward as a blast rocked the giant Sphynx. “Sorry, buddy, greater good and all that,” you sighed as stone crumbled down from the monument. You hefted yourself onto the camel just as your phone buzzed, 

“Hello,” 

“(Y/N),” Hunter’s voice made you freeze, and your breath quicken. “Hunt wha-” you scrambled to figure out what was wrong. The man shushed you easily, “I’m fine, kid but it’s John,” 

You choked, “Is he hurt again? I-” you gasped out directing your camel to the city, making it go as fast as it could. You remembered when John got hurt a couple of years ago, his coma made you a wreck. You hated yourself for leaving again the way you did but you overstayed your welcome and your job of making sure he was taken care of was done. His bloodwork modified and his prosthetic paid for. Your heart pounded in your ears, eyes stinging with tears and sand. 

Hunter took a breath, “He’s fine. The UAC, they know where he is. They sent contract killers,” you growled into the phone, the low rumble in your chest made Hunter chuckle nervously. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” 

“I know you will kiddo, usual paperwork is in the terminal. Locker 170-I, code is your birthday,” 

You hung up the phone and abandoned your camel on the outskirts of the city with an affectionate pat and a kind family. Dumping your phone you headed straight for the airport with one person on your mind. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Five Years After Olduvai: Present Day

Mission: Live

Location: “The City”

John clutched his mug of coffee like it was a lifeline, the hot liquid warmed his hands as the snow fell in big flakes. “ The report on the last body indicates that the woman was completely drained of her blood and she was displayed in a public place for several hours before anyone noticed that she was really dead,” a voice piped up from beside him. John hummed at his android partner Dorian before taking a tentative sip of his coffee, “That’s just what we need, another serial killer,” he grumbled sarcastically into his cup. 

Dorian opened his mouth to sass back but John had abruptly stopped in his tracks. The man spun around looking at his surroundings, coffee forgotten on the ground, a distinct smell filled his nose. A scent he would recognize anywhere. Oranges, old books, and jasmine, “(Y/N)” he whispered scanning the crowd. He caught a glimpse of what he thought was you but you seemed to disappear like a mirage, 

"John, you okay man?" Dorian placed a gentle steady hand on John's shoulder dragging him out of his trance. The scent of you faded away like a pleasant dream, "I'm okay, just thought I saw an old friend," he whispered sadly. Pulling off Dorian's worried hand he continued leaving the empty coffee mug on the ground. 'What would I do for you?' He asked himself sourly the image of you laughing entering the forefront of his mind.

You looked down from a rooftop heart racing. Two bodies lay at your feet heads twisted at an unnatural angle. Tearing your eyes away from John you eyed the city wall and then glanced down at the dead men, "What I would do for you?" you asked tiredly. 

"I would do everything," 

The echo of two voices floated across the city, only to be heard by the falling snow.


End file.
